What’s Your Passion?

March 3, 2011 by · 2 Comments

So I sorta got hotheaded passionate about something today at the end of Bible study.

I don’t think I even realized quite how passionate I was about it until I completely spilled it out while standing on my soapbox.

I mentioned the TOMS One Day Without Shoes…not really as a way to pressure people

to go barefoot with me, but to let them know about it.

Because I? Think it’s an amazing, awesome way to raise awareness for something that is close to my heart…the millions of kids who go without shoes each day.

I’ve seen these kids.

I’ve played soccer with these kids.

I’ve played with baby alligators with these kids. (True story…for later, maybe. :))

I’ve told these kids about Jesus.

I’ve been hugged by these kids with a fierceness that could have broken my heart in two.

This is a cause close to my heart…a passion to see something in the world change.

Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

My passion is to be that change… to make a little spark that might turn in

to something more.

But I have to make sure that my passion doesn’t turn me into a hotheaded, stubborn, arrogant person who won’t listen to other people’s opinions…and passions.

Because we all have different things we’re passionate about.

My view of the world is not the same as that of the person next to me.

The things that stir our hearts are different because we are different.

So what makes your heart bleed? What is the change you wish to be? Please share. :)

Tuesday, April 5, 2011, is One Day Without Shoes.

I’d love it if you’d jo in me by go

ing barefoot in support of kids all over the world.

And I’ll still love you if you wear shoes, too.

:)

Sig

Filed Under: barefoot, remembering

Being Refined

March 2, 2011 by · 3 Comments

This is a story I read years ago, and I think it’s been passed around in mass e-mails multiple times. You get to read it, anyway. :)

The Refiner

There w as

a group of women in

a Bible study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three, which says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.

“

This verse puzzled the women and

they wondered what this statement meant about

the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. That week, this woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work.

She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest, so  as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot — then she thought again about the verse that says, “He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.”

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he also had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment.

Then she asked the silversmith, how do you know when the silver is fully refined?

He smiled at her and answered, “Oh that’s easy — when I see my image in it.”

***************************

I am being refined.

In ways I don’t want to be refined. I’m uncomfortable, frustrated, hurting, and sitting in the middle of the fire begging for my Maker to please,

please, please finish already.

(Another characteristic of a girl who doesn’ t like

to wait. :))

And as I wait in the middle of the fire, I see those impurities slowly being exposed…things that I know need to be burned away.

But it hurts…and I hate pain.

I don’t pretend to be perfect…as is evidenced by me splashing my heart onto this blog just about every day. In some ways, that blogging is part of the refining process…it’s showing me things in my life that need to change or be burned away so that I may be more like Him.

We sang a song at Immanuel on Sunday, and it hurts my heart to realize that the very words I sang three days ago didn’t truly connect with me at the time.

But they are my prayer.

And even though it’s going to hurt, I’m so thankful that my Father will be right beside me during the whole process.

So, God…refine away.

Refiner’s fire, my heart’s one desire
Is to be holy, set apart for You, Lord.


I want to be holy, set apart for you, my Master,
Ready to do Your will.

..ready to do Your will.

Sig

Filed Under: what I'm learning

Twitter, Here I Come!

March 1, 2011 by · 1 Comment

We are once again looking at a late(r) night post. Why do I do this to myself

? :)

Today I had plenty of time to blog… I just lacked the focus to actually sit down and do it.

I got distracted by my girl (of course!), laundry, cleaning the kitchen, finally caving in and signing up

for Twitter…you know, the important th ings

in a day. :) And as a side note, it always amazes me that I can do laundry just about every day and never quite stay on top of it.

So, back to the Twitter thing.

I’ve always been curious about it.

Really. I think that because it requires its users to be concise, it never really appealed to me.

Until now.

Everyone (or almost everyone) in the blogging world tweets.

And I don’t want to be left

behind!

So…I signed up. And found three of my favorite blogging “friends” to follow. But that’s it.

I have no followers… zip, zilch, zero.

But should you want to follow me (and you know you do!) there’s a link on the sidebar

on my blog.

I suppose I’ll figure it out sooner rather than later, but the whole idea of Twitter just makes me nervous.

So I kinda need some advice/help.

What do I need to know?

Who do you follow

?

And most importantly, how do I get people to follow me? :)

This cartoon isn’t new and has been on several blogs that I’ve seen. But I still think it’s cute. (And I think this is the original source.)

I’ll be tweeting with you soon! :)

 

Sig

Filed Under: writing

Thirsty

February 28, 2011 by · 2 Comments

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.

Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”

Psalm 63:1-8 (ESV)

Edit: So even though I posted this just a couple hours ago, I came to the conclusion that God satisfies in many ways.

I love His Word, and the passage above is from one of my favorite Psalms.

It was an encouragement to me tonight. But I also have to say that laughter was a close second tonight…I just needed a good smile.

So if you’re a new mom, or even if you’re not, go read this. I just get it. If you usually see me in jeans, this is me the rest of the time. :) She is such a good writer…enjoy!

Sig

Filed Under: encouragement

In His Time

February 27, 2011 by · 3 Comments

Today I started briefly sketching out

an idea for a painting I want to do for Maelie’s room.

It’s really simple, which is a good thing, because I am NOT an artist…just a person with random moments of artistic talent.

Just a flower with the words, “He makes everything beautiful in His time.”

She doesn’t know it yet, but that’s pretty much the story of her life,

the story I want her to know.

**********************

I am terrible at waiting.

I do not like to be waiting in line at the grocery store, standing around at the end of the bar waiting for my coffee, and in Indonesia, I really hated waiting for a taxi. (Mostly because I knew that it could be as little as two minutes or as long as two hours before one showed up.

And who knows what the weather would do while I waited?)

Although I am not really Type A, I tend to have a plan for my day…and my life. I know how I want things done, and while there is definitely room to be spontaneous, I like it when my expectations are met. Exceeded is even better.

:)

My husband and I are in the middle of more waiting.

We made an offer on a house this past week.

It’s a house we love and where we see ourselves raising our family. Great neighborhood and location, close to friends

and church. Yeah, it’s the one we’re renting. I love it.

And I want it so badly I can hardly stand it.

I don’t want to wait…I just want an answer. I don’t even know how I’m going to sleep until we know. And the reality is, we may not know for awhile.

I think back not so long ago when we were waiting for something else.

A child.

At times it felt like it would never happen.

I watched as, what seemed like, everyone around me had babies. Multiple babies. Even some of my friends were adopting.

And I? Was just waiting with empty arms and a heart that was hurting more and more the longer we waited.

And in the middle of that waiting, I started wondering, “Is it really waiting if there’s nothing to wait for?”

Oh, Mel…such small faith.

Easy for me to say now, I guess.

At the time, it felt like God was always saying no. “No, I don’t want you to adopt this baby. No, I don’t want you to have this one.”

And then…He said yes.

I still smile really, really, B

IG when I remember the morning we got the positive pregnancy test. It meant about 7 1/2 more months of waiting, but I didn’t care one bit.

We were going to have a baby!

And then…the puking started. And didn’t stop.

I learned even more about waiting while I experienced 24/7 sickness for 18 weeks straight. My body was so physically weak and exhausted that showering and getting dressed were major accomplishments. My head hurt so bad that I could hardly look at a computer or tv screen or read a book.

Really, what does a person do with all of that time? I learned that there was nothing else I could do but pray…and wait it out.

And while it was horrible, we still knew that God was fulfilling His plan for our family in His time. There was comfort in that even though I felt absolutely awful.

And eventually, around the middle of the sixth month, I did stop puking and my head stopped hurting so much. I actually felt somewhat normal and was able to enjoy life…and begin to excitedly dream about the little girl we would be welcoming into our family so soon.

And before we knew it, June 14 was here, and Maelie arrived!

The waiting was long…and hard. But she was so, so worth the wait.

And whether I’m waiting for a baby or a house, I know that God will give us an answer in His time.

Father, remind me of this on the days I don’t feel like waiting.

In His time,
In His time,
He makes all things beautiful
In His time.
Lord, please show me every day,
As You’re teaching me Your way,
That You do just what You say
In Your time.

In Your time,
In Your time,
You make all things beautiful
In Your time.
Lord, my life to You I bring,
May each song I have to sing,
Be to You a lovely thing
In Your time.

Sig

Filed Under: adoption, being mommy, encouragement, family, what I'm learning

Airports

February 26, 2011 by · 3 Comments

I love my husband.

I’m fighting a cold, going on

half speed, and my brain is so. very. tired.

So I asked him to give me a word to blog about.

He typed in random word lists into Google…and came up with “airports”.

Interesting choice.

And, it works.

I’ve been all over the world…so why not tell you about all the airports I’ve been in

? And if there’s something particularly memorable, I’ll say it, too.

And I’ll even include the airport codes, for those of you who love to be intellectually stimulated. :)

Enjoy, potentially, the most random post ever!

Africa

  • CPT – Cape Town International Airport; Cape Town, South Africa. Good Italian food…and one really late night there.

Asia

  • CGK – Soekarno Hatta International Airport; Jakarta, Indonesia. Thankfully it had a Starbucks.

  • BDO – Husein Sastranegara Airport; Bandung, Indonesia.
  • MES – Polonia Airport; Medan, Indonesia.
  • SUB – Juanda Airport; Surabaya, Indonesia.
  • DPS – Ngurah Rai International Airport; Denpasar-Bali, Indonesia. Ditto…Starbucks. :)
  • BTH – Hang Nadim Airport; Batam, Indonesia.
  • MLG – Abdul Rahman Saleh Airport; Malang, Indonesia. Sitting on the floor (and killing a roach) while playing cards for three hours and waiting for a very delayed flight back to Jakarta. No Starbucks there.
  • SIN – Changi Airport; Singapore. Many in-transit nights spent in the lounge. McDonald’s breakfast at 3 a.m. After a year without it? Enough said.
  • KUL – Kuala Lumpur International Airport; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • BKK – Suvarnabhumi International Airport; Bangkok, Thailand. Mango sticky rice and Amazing Race moments.
  • CNX – Chiang Mai International Airport; Chiang Mai, Thailand.
  • HKT – Phuket International Aiport; Phuket, Thailand.
  • HKG – Hong Kong International Airport; Hong Kong. Really good chocolate…which I so needed after a 14 hour flight from LA. :)
  • NRT – Narita International Airport; Tokyo, Japan. Not my favorite place to spend anticipating a long flight back to Minneapolis. Cool toilets with too many buttons that I was afraid to push for fear of what might happen.

    :)

  • ICN – Incheon International Airport; Seoul, South Korea.

    Chocolate covered sunflower seeds and peach water.

    Mmmmm.

Europe

  • AMS – Schipol Airport; Amsterdam,

    Netherlands. Sadly, the only time I’ve ever been to Europe. Good chocolate, though.

    And cheese. :)

North America

  • PHX – Sky Harbor International Airport; Phoenix, AZ.
  • LAX – Los Angeles International Airport; Los Angeles, CA. Really needs to be more accessible for passengers switching terminals. One loooooong walk with several bags, a guitar, and a djembe, when we left for Indo the first time.
  • SAN – San Diego International Airport; San Diego, CA.
  • SFO – San Francisco International Airport; San Francisco, CA.
  • DEN – Denver International Airport; Denver, CO.
  • MIA – Miami International Airport; Miami, FL. The only time I’ve ever been to Florida…and it was in transit to Honduras. I didn’t even get to stay.

    :(

  • ATL – Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport; Atlanta, GA.
  • ORD – Chicago O’Hare International Airport; Chicago, IL.
  • DSM – Des Moines International Airport; Des Moines, IA.
  • MCI – Kansas City International Airport; Kansas City, KS.
  • GRR – Gerald R. Ford International Airport; Grand Rapids, MI.
  • MSP – Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport; Minneapolis, MN. We ate at Chili’s there every time we flew out. Good memories. :)
  • EWR – Newark Liberty International Airport; Newark, NJ. Ate a hot dog right before our flight to Amsterdam. Not such a good idea.

  • PDX – Portland International Airport; Portland, OR. Our favorite airport so far.

    Amazing Greek food and a bookstore I could actually afford. I’d go back to Portland just for the airport. :)

  • MEM – Memphis International Airport; Memphis, TN. Flew through this one way more times than I can count.
  • DFW – Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport; Dallas, TX. Eight hour layover that turned into twelve…lots and lots of Phase 10. Good memories. :)

Central/South America

  • LIM – Jorge Chavez International Airport; Lima, Peru. Inca Kola and playing my wooden flute for a crowd while wearing the coolest stocking cap ever.

    :)

  • IQT – C.F. Secada Airport; Iquitos, Peru. I loved Iquitos. So I guess I loved the airport, too.
  • MGA – Augusto C.

    Sandino Airport; Managua, Nicaragua.

  • SAL – El Salvador International Aiport; San Salvador, El

    Salvador.

  • LCE – Goloson International Airport; La Ceiba, Honduras.
  • RTB – Roatan Airport; Roatan, Honduras. Teeniest, tiniest plane I’ve ever flown on.
  • MBJ – Sangster International Airport; Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Whew! I’m tired.

5 continents. 15 countries. 40 airports.

It’s a beautiful world…go see it. :)

Sig

Filed Under: adventures, remembering, travel

I Will Sing

February 25, 2011 by · 3 Comments

I love music.

I sing

all day long…really. Sometimes I pull out my guitar and sing for Maelie. (She loves it because she doesn’t know any better yet. :)) Sometimes I just belt out a random tune. Sometimes I make up songs about things like…well, let’s just hope that Maelie’s first words aren’t something about dirty diapers. 😀 Sometimes I butcher “Defying Gravity” and once I even tried to sing the ending of “Think of Me” from Phantom.

Um, no.

It seems there is always a song in my head and usually on my lips. I just love music and the powerful way it speaks to me.

So I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that my daughter is already “singing”. And, at times, sounding better than her mommy.

:)

Last night was praise team practice. (Yes, the cold is at least better enough for me to try singing, but I kept the volume down. :)) It was fun…there was enough humor in the group (Titanic, anyone? And my heart will go on and on…) to keep us laughing, and most of the songs I could at least figure out.

Then we got to the last one.

It’s a Chris Tomlin and one of my favorites.

But it’s also one that I’m not sure I can sing in public.

There’s too much intense emotion that wells up within me when I hear it…imagine trying to sing it. I got through the words in practice, but I couldn’t think about the meaning at all.

Or the time in my life that it points back to.

A time where I was looking so hard for God in the middle of something…and I just couldn’t see Him. I wanted to…but my eyes were blinded by so much.

Loss. Grief. Lack of faith.

One thing that keeping this blog has done for me? It has forced me to revisit some of the tough things in life. And that’s good…I need to process things.

But the thing is…I’m tired of the ashes.

I want beauty.

I want to stand up and shout that He’s my God…and He is Everything…and that the things He’s done are amazing!

On days that are full of sunshine…AND on days that are filled with shadows.

On Sunday we’re going to sing a song…

It might make me cry. It might make me smile.

It might make me lift my hands and say, “God, You are so, so Good.”

But no matter what…I Will Sing.

I can sing in the troubled times, sing when I win.
I can sing when

I lose my step and I fall down again.
I can sing ’cause You pick me up, sing ’cause You’re there,
I can sing ’cause You hear me, Lord, when I call to

You in prayer.


I can sing with my last breath, sing for I know
That I’ll sing with the angels and the saints around the throne

How can I keep from singing Your praise?
How can I ever say enough?
How amazing is Your love!
How can I keep from shouting Your name

?
I know I am loved by the King…and it makes my heart want to sing.

Sig

Filed Under: encouragement, music, remembering

I Love Thursdays

February 24, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

It’s Thursday. One of my favorite days of the week.

I really, really love Thursdays.

This is the day of the week that life is a little different for me and my girl. Oh, sure, at random times during the week we will get out and do different things.

But Thursday is the day I go to the Mom’s Bible Study at Immanuel.

To say that it is a highlight of the week is an understatement…it is THE highlight.

One of the biggest reasons I dreaded moving here is because we didn’ t know anyone.

That left me with two choices: shut down and never make any friends; or, get out there and make some new ones.

Neither of those choices really appealed to me. I’m not the type to completely shut down and never be social…but go knocking on someone’s door looking for a friend

? Especially in a new place where I don’t know my way around

? Yeah, that’s not me either.

Thankfully God met me where I was and sent me a friend, who knocked on my door instead (literally) and introduced me to a bunch more friends through her Bible study.

The first time I went, I wasn’t sure. My small, narrow mind had never been around a group of women from a Lutheran church. (If you know my background, you’ll understand this…no offense taken, I hope!) But after the second time, the walls started to come down, and I realized I’d been judgmental for far too long.

What I found when I let those walls crumble

? The most amazing group of women who are so Christlike…and real. I need real…not superficial.

This group of women, in every sense of the word, saved me. They scooted over and made some room at their table, accepting me for who I was, exactly where I was…which basically meant they were dealing with a lonely, emotional, sleep-deprived, new mommy in the middle of the biggest changes of her life. And they were cool with that.

And? They even took time to ask me about it all. That meant so much to me.

I so look forward to our study every week. Sometimes we spend more time talking and laughing than we do studying…and sometimes it’s the other way around. But we all need that laughter and conversation as much as we need to gain insight from God’s Word.

That’ s called being human.

I feel so blessed that, at a time where I had no idea what life would look like or how my intense need for social interaction would be met, God had it all figured out.

“Mel, you have no idea, but I’ve got some great people waiting for you…you’ve just got to trust Me.”

I’m so glad I did.

I think it’s funny that at Bible study today, a few women were talking today about reading my blog. (I am so glad someone read that ridiculous post about my hair a couple weeks ago. :)) I had already planned to blog about this today…and I almost changed my mind.

But when God does something cool…it’s worth writing about.

I love stepping back and seeing how God provided something I never thought He would.

I am beyond blessed… and so thankful.

Yeah, I love Thursdays. :)

Sig

Filed Under: blessings, church, encouragement, friends

To Kill a Cold

February 23, 2011 by · 2 Comments

My wonderful daughter passed on her “I’m-not-feeling-so-great” thing to her mommy.

(And the wonderful part is not sarcastic… I do think she is just that.

I just wish she’d quit being so generous. :))

I wouldn’t be frustrated, except this is cold #3 of the season.

#1 wasn’t horrible, other than it hit a few days before we were supposed to go to Wicked. So I spent most of the play sucking on Halls and blowing my nose. (But I still got to see the most fantastic musical EVER…small price to pay.)

#2 was bad. I could barely sit up for three days. And, of course, it hit right before we took a long

weekend trip to Iowa.

At least I was in a car blowing my nose constantly and not around other people.

And that one took forever to go away–probably two weeks before I was feeling normal again.

#3 is here. Blah. Selfishly, I want it to go away so I can sing with praise team on Sunday. I miss singing and I don’t get to very often anymore. Anyway, yeah…I have so been fighting this thing with everything I have. And with everything I can find on the internet. So far I have tried:

  • Airborne…Lots and lots of Airborne. Probably too much.
  • Zinc tablets…Warning, and I am serious.

    Do. not. take. on. an. empty. stomach. (I found out the hard way.)

  • Gargling with Listerine several times a day…apparently it’s supposed to kill all the bacteria causing the cold? Not working, which leads me to question the effectiveness of its original intended purpose.
  • Tea with lemon and honey. (And I don’t like honey.)
  • Tons of orange juice.

  • Hot water with lemon and honey. (Surprisingly, this seems to be the most effective.

    And if I add a lot of lemon, I can barely taste the honey.)

  • Blueberry and pomegranate tea…not as good as it sounds. Ick.
  • And possibly the most revolting substance so far…cinnamon, pepper, and honey boiled in a cup of water. I cannot even begin to describe the nastiness of this concoction.

    I choked down about 1/3 of it before pouring the rest down the drain.

  • And something I am sure will not do any good, but I woke up this morning craving spicy food.

    Mind over matter, right

    ? Bring on the salsa!

    (Yes, I ate it for breakfast…I’m just cool like that.)

I am so desperate to kill this thing. Is there a miracle cure out there that I’m missing?

Please share!

Sig

Filed Under: uncategorized

Last Minute

February 22, 2011 by · 2 Comments

So it’s 9 pm and I’m staring at a blank computer screen.

There were bound to be days like this.

I had several ideas this morning, but none of them worked for my brain today. I’m sure I wrote a few thousand words…but every one of those words got deleted.

My wonderful husband suggested I do an entire post in Indonesian.

That would be a very short post.

Something like, “Saya suka rumah saya dan saya ingin membelinya.”

That’s about what’ s on my mind the

se days.

(If you speak Indonesian, then you’ll have no problem translating.) :)

Anyway…a friend of mine does a really great post every week or so when she answers a few different questions based on the day she’s having. It’s pretty cool, but I don’t want to copy her…and I don’t want to do that every week either.

So I did a bad thing. I googled “I have writer’s block”. You wouldn’t believe how many ideas popped up!

So today’s post? One of those ideas… well, sort of.

I borrowed it and tweaked it. :)

Take it with a grain of salt.

Yesterday: I went to Goodwill for the first time ever. It was actually kind of cool.

I think I can be persuaded to join the thrift s

tore shopping movement. I just need to know what I’m looking for before I go…otherwise it’s way too overwhelming.

Today: My brain is tired. That is why I’m typing random facts about my life instead of blogging about something deep and thought-provoking.

And my sweet girl decided she did not want to sleep from 11:45 pm-2:00 am. Can’t say I loved that, either.

Tomorrow: I am hoping that Mae will take her two naps so I can get caught up on sleep. It has been a rough few days. I need the naps as much as she does.

Next Week: I’m really looking forward to our next coffee shop pick. Don’t know why I thought of that…maybe I need a cup of coffee tonight? :)

Next Month: Is March. I haven’t spent March in the States since 2005.

Hoping spring shows up on time, too. :) And I really like it that McDonald’s has Shamrock Shakes in March…they don’t have those in Indonesia.

Next Year: Goodness, do I really have to think that far ahead

? Maelie will be walking and talking and getting into more than she does now. I hope time doesn’t go by too quickly.

And maybe tomorrow I’ll blog in Indonesian. :)

Sig

Filed Under: writing
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