Living the Adventure, Telling the Stories
Hi, friends! Today I am thrilled to be the guest over at (in)courage!
Last year I wrote about my experience with (in)RL and how GREAT it was…you can go here to read it.
And, if you haven’t signed up for (in)RL 2013 yet, it’s definitely not too late! Think about joining this awesome community of women and (in)couragement…you will definitely be blessed! 
In life, I need those people. We all do.
Hand-holders.
The ones who will celebrate victories by taking my hands and, no matter who is watching, jump up and down with me.
Squealing gleefully is optional but most definitely adds to the fun.
Those same people are the ones who will grasp tightly to my hand as I sit with a mug of coffee and heart-spill all over the glazed, wooden, Starbucks table.
The ones who will grab my hands and say a prayer because sometimes that’s all they can do.
I am always amazed as I consider the different paths on which my Father has taken me. Places I never would have imagined, valleys I’d never even considered, victories better than anything I could have dreamed.
At every step, there’s been a hand-holder.
For I have never done alone well.
I need friends who not only will go out for coffee :), but will sit and share hearts. Cry tears. Laugh loudly. Love deeply.
Hold my hand. Sometimes…really, always…in their hearts.
And so when the God-Sized Dreaming began and my book-writing dream began to grow even more in my heart, I knew which hand-holding friend would pray me through this journey.
Kris is so much more than my friend and neighbor. Lucky her. 😉 She’s my sister-in-Christ and the Godmother to my daughter. She’s a fellow coffee-drinker, dark chocolate-consumer, music-lover. She reads my blog, encourages my writing, and when we chat…well, sometimes it lasts for hours. She loves people well and inspires me through the way she walks in Grace.
Oh, and she makes really amazing hot fudge sauce. Like, so good you don’t really need the ice cream at all.
She’s prayed me through some tough days and celebrated some pretty wonderful ones with me, too. And knowing that she’s lifting me up every day means…a lot.
I am so blessed to call her my friend.
(This pic was last summer…we really need to get the camera out more. :))
I believe we all need real-life friends who will love and encourage us, but I have also been so blessed by the connections I’ve made with God-Sized Dream sisters. Last week we teamed up with other dreamers in our group to pray for and encourage each other. These two women are amazing…and I know you’ll be blessed by reading their stories and hearing their hearts!
Cathy blogs at Moments on the Journey. She is an encourager and has already blessed me and made me smile so many times in the past week! Hop over here to read about her God-Sized Dream and what He’s doing!
Jessica is also a dreaming sister and blogger. Her space is a great place to be…head on over and read about what God is doing in her life and heart!
And I really can’t end this post without mentioning this guy.
Yeah, I kinda love him.
We are extreme opposites, and anyone who knows us…knows that. I rock the fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants ENFP label, and he…is the ever-rock-solid ISTJ. He is not a blogger. He often doesn’t “get” my writing style or the random ways my brain works. But he loves and supports me…to the point that he told me last week, Honey, you can buy a ticket for that blogging conference. I want you to go.
Insert extremely happy dance. 😀
He has loved me on the days when I’m anything but lovable, held me up through days when I couldn’t stand on my own, celebrated victories with me by buying me chocolate and sweaters…and as a bonus, he’s a pretty fantastic daddy to our girl.
And though no part of our journey has been perfect, he’s an amazing hand-holder too. I love you, Honey. I’m so blessed to have you by my side.
No matter where we are…no matter the path…no matter the length of the phase of the journey…we all need those cheerleaders, the ones who will grab on to our hands and say, (preceded by the almost-mandatory jumping up and down and squealing,of course)
“You Can Do This!!!”
(And if you’d like to read more about what God is doing in the lives of other dreamers, click on the button below and come on over…we’ll be linking up every week!)
Bedtime snuggles with my favorite little one.
Dress-up clothes and princess shoes.
Coffee and a friend-chat.
Dreaming sisters.
Sleeping in.
Cake.
Good reads.
Music and celebrations.
Moments of rest.
Laughing with my family.
It’s a good night to count blessings. What are some of yours?
Today I’m linking up with Lisa-Jo at The Gypsy Mama for Five-Minute Friday.
Join me!
The rules: Write for five minutes. No editing, revising, overthinking, or backtracking. Just write.
Today’s Topic: Cherished
Buried up to what felt like my neck in dirty dishes this afternoon, I sighed as I looked down into the sink to see several of Maelie’s play dishes from her Little Tykes kitchen.
Sigh again.
A moment of frustration for me definitely…I completely wanted to just sit down. Fighting the flu/sinus/cold stuff going around, doing anything extra wasn’t really on my agenda for the day.
But since her dishes were already in the sink…along with the rest of the ones that were actually dirty, well…there was no choice.
So I held in my impatience and washed her dishes…letting them dry in the draining rack.
Oh, thank you, Mommy. Thank you for washing my dishes!
Those few words uttered from my daughter just melted my heart into a puddle. By taking the time to let my daughter know that I would make what was important to her important to me, she knew that she was cherished.
And she is…so completely cherished…I just sometimes forget to show her that.
I love how my Father does the same thing for me…for all of His children. (Well, minus the frustration and impatience part. ;))
He sees what is important to us, what we hold dear…and He cares for us because we’re cherished in His eyes.
Today was a moment of humility for this mama…I realized that I so easily get wrapped up in my own thoughts and desires and life…and I forget about the little girl running around at my feet…the one who is already growing up way too quickly.
May I take each and every opportunity I am given to let her know she is cherished.
Warning…I might rant a bit in this post. Might. 😉
I pulled out a can of diet ginger ale tonight because a) it’s just one of those nights where I feel like I need to be drinking something while I talk to you all; b) I slept horribly last night, and caffeine just might keep me awake; and c) I need to stay hydrated, though I’m not sure anything of the soda variety really helps.
All of that AND I took a large dose of NyQuil about 30 minutes ago…I’m not sure how well that would mix with caffeine, but I’m not sure I want to find out, either.
The eyelids are already drooping, but we shall see how long I make it before I pass out from exhaustion.
And a stuffed up head.
Goodness, I’m annoyed. This might be the part where there is some virtual foot-stomping and/or slight complaining that occurs within the context of Mel’s day being hashed out for you.
I may or may not have complained in December when I had a lovely little upper respiratory infection that lasted a good 18 days. (Not that I counted or anything…why would a person do that?! ;))
I really thought I had paid my dues for the flu season…so much so that I toyed with the idea of getting a flu shot last week but never actually did.
Mistake.
Guess who woke up with an equally wonderful sinus infection yesterday?
I will not throw too big of a fit. That’s mostly because getting up off the couch to actually stomp my feet would require too much energy. And I’m tired.
Though I might just be pounding the keys on my laptop a little harder than usual. 😉
Anyway, so yesterday was me in denial. But by the time Tobin got home from work, let’s just say I was ready to fall into bed. And today, I spent the afternoon on the couch after being out a bit this morning.
I’m kind of thinking a flu shot is no longer a maybe. I’m getting it every year. And if I can still get one when this round of the ick is over, I’ll be the first person in line. Really.
So the reality of my day is this: I am sick, slightly crabby, and not at all myself. (And I probably should have just given myself a blogging pass.)
BUT the reality of my day is that I got an afternoon of snuggles from my favorite little girl…and even though I don’t feel great, I’m not sure there’s a better way to spend an afternoon.
This Nyquil is gonna zonk me quick…I better crash.
Thanks for stopping by tonight, friends!
Hi, friends.
I’m gonna start by repeating myself.
I am just so, so incredibly thankful to God and blessed to be part of the God-Sized Dream team. Each day I am encouraged, inspired, and challenged to grow closer to my Father by these amazing women. I just love them…and hearing about what God is doing in their hearts and how their dreams are coming true is just the best.
Ok, on to book-writing.
I’ve shared the dream. To take my Indo stories…the blessings and the tough stuff, the best moments and the things that made me cry, all of them…and put them into one place.
My book.
I’m already calling it that…even if I don’t have a publisher yet.
I’ve been going through Holley Gerth‘s e-book short, The Do-What-You-Can-Plan: 21 Days to Making Any Area of Your Life Better.
To tell you that this book has been a blessing is an understatement. I feel like God is using it to give me clarity, focus…and amazing hope and expectation for what He is going to do in my heart and life.
I’ve known He wanted me to write the book for awhile now, and in my fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants-pretty-much-every-day, dive-in-headfirst, mind…I guess I figured I’d just sit down and tap out the words…and Voila!
Book.
That’s proven harder than I anticipated. Maybe we’ll just call it a reality check for someone who tends to live with her head bobbing in the clouds.
Holley stresses over and over in this book…small steps. One thing at a time. It will happen.
I SO needed to hear that…and hear it over and over and over. (Can I blame it on the ENFP in me? ;))
So twoish weeks ago I sat down and started to write out the small steps…the shorter-term goals…I felt were necessary to reaching my goal. I was desperately needing to find some type of balance…because I’m not just writing a book. I’m also a wife and a full-time mommy…I love my husband and daughter, and they deserve the best from me…not my “left over” time.
So here are the goals I came up with…one step at a time. (I only had to technically share one or two, but hey…I’m an overachiever. Or, I just like to talk. :))
1. Write out a plan for the book. My book is divided into three sections. Seventeen shorter chapters per section. I needed a plan or outline…some way to put it on paper so I could see where I was heading, to keep track of progress, and to actually see my chapter ideas. I’m finding that, due to the length a book should be…I will probably need to add a few chapters. I don’t think coming up with ideas for that will be hard, so I’m encouraged. And I’ve (mostly) finished this part.
2. Have a somewhat-flexible writing schedule…aka: certain days/certain things. It is extremely out of character for me to even use the word schedule. 😉 But listing out what I should be doing on each day has helped me find balance. Balance between being a wife/mommy and a dreamer who’s reaching for a goal. For example…today’s Tuesday. My goals are to work on my post for the G-SD team, spend some time reading and commenting on friends’ blog posts and goals, spend lots of time with Mae, catch up on cleaning/laundry, make dinner, and work out tonight. No book allowed on Tuesdays, and it’s good. (Maybe I’ll share my schedule with you in another post. :))
3. Connect with my prayer buddy on a regular basis. This one isn’t too hard since we text almost daily, and I have chances to talk with her throughout the week. While I don’t want to overwhelm her (she has a life, too!) prayer is an important part of this journey, one that I sometimes put on the back burner. The truth is, it’s an amazing blessing to have a friend (and even, friends) who will pray me through this journey.
4. Surrender daily. Along with prayer, I’ve realized that each word I write needs to be surrendered to my Father…I want to give Him all of my book and all of my dream. This isn’t about me keeping a tight clench on the pieces of it I think I can handle on my own. It’s about letting go and trusting that He’ll bring something beautiful in His time.
Progress is slow on some of these, but I feel like I’m finding balance…something that has often been lacking in my daily life.
And since I should probably save something for next week, I’ll stop there.
Definitely smiling today…God is so Good, isn’t He?
And if you’d like to read more about what God is doing in the lives of other dreamers, hop on over here and check out the linkup! Truly, there are some incredibly beautiful stories here that God is writing.
Hi, friends!
So, there’s this site that I like to read a lot. Maybe you’ve heard me talk about it here or there? 😉
Last April, (in)courage hosted their first ever (in)RL…(in)RealLife…conference.
It was great…really. Just an awesome time spent with friends, drinking coffee, growing closer to God and each other…and celebrating the beauty of community and friendship.
And this year it’s on for April 26th and 27th…I can’t wait!
The plan of the conference is great…because it’s all online. No plane tickets or reservations required…though there are meetups planned all over the place to give you a group to meet with, no matter where you live. Last year I met up with two of my friends, and we had a really great afternoon. There are sessions on Friday you can watch on your own; on Saturday, you find the nearest group and join them! (Or you can watch online on your own, but it’s more fun with friends!)
I seriously can’t recommend this enough…time to hang with girlfriends, laugh, eat, grow, connect, heart-share? Not to mention, the women behind this fantastic online community are amazing…every single one of them. Each day, their words bless me so much…I just love the thought of two days of hearing from them.
I have no doubt it will be incredible.
And, this year it’s free, too…so you really have no excuse unless you happen to have a conflict on April 26th and 27th. 😉
What do you say? Who’s in?
You can head over here to check out the details. And as a bonus, if you register today, there are free gifts!
Trust me, you won’t want to miss this.
And, for my local friends, I’m hosting the Carpentersville meet-up. I hope you’ll think about it and join in!
Was feeling brave tonight…so, I did a vlog. (Video bLOG…the term was pretty new to me, too. ;))
Honestly…pushing the publish button is kinda scary. But, admittedly, so was talking to a camera, knowing that I needed to get it all in one take. 😉
Here ya go…tonight, you get my words in a different form…complete with lots of facial expressions because that’s just me.
Hope you enjoy…and thanks for stopping by!
Jan 13 Vlog from Mel Schroeder on Vimeo.
Today I’m linking up with Lisa-Jo at The Gypsy Mama for Five-Minute Friday.
Join me!
The rules: Write for five minutes. No editing, revising, overthinking, or backtracking. Just write.
Today’s Topic: Dive
Ok, I just gotta laugh here.
Like, really.
Because I know a lot of you think of me as somewhat athletic…no sarcasm here…I’m a runner, and I can hold my own in a volleyball match or a basketball game.
But you should have seen me try to learn how to dive.
Like, physically dive. Into-a-pool dive.
It was a riot. 😀
I was your typical eight-or-nineish-year-old girl who hung out with her best friends at the pool every day during the summer. (I heart small towns for that very reason.)
Around that age, diving became the cool thing…and what’s not to love? Springing off the diving board, sailing through the air, and plunging headfirst into the cool water?
I so wanted that to be me.
And. It. SOOOOOOO. Wasn’t.
Oh, I was a klutz. For most of that summer, I just couldn’t figure it out.
I’d bend over with my arms outstretched over my head and jump.
Every time, without fail, I’d splish splash into a belly-flop worth of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
I would laugh at myself because that’s just me, but secretly, I wanted to execute the perfect dive so badly.
What a metaphor for life, really.
There are so many dreams and desires we hold dear and wish deeply that they will come true.
We try and try and put our best possible effort forward, and they still don’t end up looking like we wish they would.
Often, though they will eventually happen, there are challenges and flubs along the journey that complicate it. Or, maybe, build character.
And so when I dove headfirst into writing this book, I think somewhere inside I knew it would be much like I described learning how to actually dive…I’m sure there will be moments, but it will happen…when the time is right and when God says, Now.
Until then, I just keep trying. Just keep doing what I’m doing and trusting Him.
Just keep writing those paragraphs and telling those stories.
And since I know you’re wondering, I can now execute a flawless dive. Maybe I should try for the Olympics next?
Hi there, friends.
Just a sit-down-with-a-Diet-Pepsi and chat-with-you-all kind of night.
First off, I want to say thank you to all of you.
Your encouragement and comments in the past weeks (especially Tuesday) since I’ve started sharing more about my God-Sized Dream have knocked my socks off. Well, figuratively. It’s far too cold for even me to be running around barefoot. 😉
I have to admit that as I continue to write and share my heart, this whole book-writing thing gets scarier and scarier. There’s so much that needs to happen…and so much that I’m admittedly uneasy and nervous about. Extra reasons for me to grasp more tightly to my Father’s hand, huh? He’s got it.
But I want to keep most of my dream-sharing for Tuesdays…so I’ll save my most recent thoughts until then.
It has been quite the week in the Schroeder house.
Hubby is wrapping up his job tomorrow…the one he’s been working since we moved here in July 2010.
It’s very surreal for both of us…sad, yes, but there is so much hope for the future, and we’re extremely grateful for that. With his new job, I’ll be able to stay home with Mae and write…with the non-pressure to make some money if I would like. I’ll just get to be with my girl, work on my writing, spend time with friends and at at my church…that makes me really, really happy.
Like, REALLY, REALLY HAPPY!!!!
And I’m happy for him, too…this job is a blessing in so many ways, and we’re excited for this new step.
It’s also been a hard week.
I’ve hesitated sharing this…and I’m going to leave most of the details out here. Really…if you want to find out more, I’m sure it won’t be that difficult, but I want to respect the people involved.
There’s been so much heartache and sadness for friends from the church we left behind in Minnesota, who I’ve known for several years and Tobin has known most of his life. They are going through something incredibly heart-wrenching and devastating…their son was charged yesterday with killing his wife on Sunday.
It’s the kind of situation that makes me sick…both physically and in my heart.
Sick for the family and friends of this beautiful woman and mother.
Sick for the little boy she left behind.
Sick for his family and friends…not only are they left with so many unanswered questions and wonderings, but they’ve also lost a daughter-in-law, sister, and friend whom they loved, too.
I just ache for them…to the point where I’m not sure I can even put it into words.
Will you pray for this family? I know they need and would appreciate your prayers so much. I’ve been asking God to just hold them tightly and reaffirm His unconditional love for them in amazing ways. I just cry for them…they must be hurting so much.
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23
What a beautiful thing that, as children of God, we can claim this promise.
So thankful for that tonight…thank you for praying. Love to you all.
P.S. This song has been playing over and over in my head over the past two days. I love it and the Truth found in it. Have a listen.
Follower of my Father. Wife to Tobin. Mama to my Mae and Mac. Friend. Writer. Dreamer. Lover of adventures. Throw in some coffee, chocolate, running, music, and that's me. I fill this space with the real of my heart and life as I dance through my days with one hand holding my daughter's (or my son's, if I can keep up with him!) and the other holding my coffee mug. Welcome! I hope you'll stay awhile.
