As I sit down to write this blog, so many thoughts are flooding my mind. I thought I was ready to write this and I think I am, but it will not be easy. It was never going to be easy. As you can see from the title, this is about grief and grief is never easy. I have wanted to write about this topic for a while but I needed to gather my thoughts first. The first thing I want to tell you is that no matter what you are going through, there is hope. There is hope even in the trial. There is hope even in the grief. There is hope because of Jesus.
This year has been a challenging year for not only myself, but those close to me as well. Based on what I’ve seen and heard, I can say this is true for many people. My family has dealt with significant loss this year. From January of 2024 until November of the same year, my family lost four family members ranging from 17 years old to 90 years old with my Great Uncle being the last on Veterans Day. A true Veteran he was.
If you ask me, loosing four family members in one year is a bit much but then I hear about others who lost even more than that in a singular year and my heart breaks for them. And you really have no words to say. So what have I learned about grief in the last year? I learned that grief is hard. It doesn’t make sense. It creeps up on you when you least expect it, even when you thought you were doing good, and it affects everyone differently.
One moment, you are smiling and laughing. The next moment, you are crying over silly things like telling your friend you took the trash out so she didn’t have to (this actually happened to me!) Who knew taking the trash out could be so emotional! And you want people to ask you how you are doing because it shows they care, but then you can’t talk about it without tears flooding down your face so you decide you don’t want to talk about it anymore. Again, grief affects everyone differently. Some find themselves smiling a lot because they are trying to be strong for others. Others isolate. It does not mean those people aren’t hurting too. It just means they grieve differently than others.
Most importantly, I learned there is hope even in the grief. The Bible says ,”The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18. As my heart has been broken, I have sensed the closeness of God in my life. I have felt his presence like never before. And I thought I felt his closeness before!
You see, there is hope because of Jesus. There is hope because of the birth of the Messiah. There is hope because death was defeated when Jesus died on the cross for us. As a believer, this is what gives me hope even in the grief. Because I know that those I lost have made it to their eternal home. I have hope because they are pain free. Free from cancer. Free from brokenness. They are free, indeed.
I recognize grief comes from more than just death. It comes from loss of a job, loss of a home, loss of a relationship… The same goes for those types of grief. There is hope because of Jesus. The Bible tells us that, “God makes all things work to the good of those who love him,” Romans 8:28. We may not understand why things happen the way they do, but I promise God still makes all things work together for our good. He made a way for all of us. I have said many times just this year, “I do not always understand why things happen the way they do, but I will never question God’s reasoning.” I do not understand why my family has gone through so much tragedy this year, but I trust God and I will continue trusting Him for myself and for my family.
If you are grieving any or all of these things, draw near to God. Look to Him. Seek His face. I can tell you these things because I have been there. I have walked through it too. I am walking through it now.
I was recently talking to a friend and I told her all I have done is cling to Jesus because that is all I have known to do. Jesus gives me hope. He is my comforter. My protector. My refuge in the storm. Cling to Him. That is the best place you can be. While you cling to God and when you are ready, do not be afraid to talk to someone you trust about what you are walking through. And if someone comes to you while they are grieving, it is okay if you do not have the answer. It is okay if you do not say a word, and just listen. I have found, that is what most want. Someone to just listen to them and maybe even offer a hug. Above all else, trust God. I know I am.
There is hope in the grief. Cling to Jesus. Trust Him for all of your needs.
Have you ever gone to sit down for a meal, or at a meeting, and saw there weren’t any seats left for you to sit at the table? Did someone make room for you? Did you have to go find another table?
Over the past few months, I have been thinking about this very thing. I’ve felt like God has been asking me who I’ve made room for at my table. I was recently at an event where someone had originally had a seat at the table and when they got up, someone took their seat. Then they grabbed another seat and had to get up again for something, and their seat was taken again. Before she knew it, all of the seats at the table were taken and there was no room for her. She never once said a word about it, but I saw it happen. I looked at her and said “when you are ready to sit down, I will pull you up a chair and make room for you.” This was a simple thing and we weren’t going to be sitting for long, but I could see the relief on her face when I said, “I will make room for you.”
I’m here to encourage you that there is someone that will always make room for you at the table and that is God. In fact, God desires for you to sit at his table. He wants to dine with you every day. When I think of sitting with someone at the table, I think of relationship. That’s really what it is. When we sit with someone at the table, we are walking in relationship with them. Whether we have known someone for many years or we are just getting to know them, relationships really do form around the table. When we sit at the table with God, we are walking in relationship with him. When Jesus shared his last meal gathered around the table with his disciples, he was walking in relationship with them.
There is a family that I know that I have witnessed make room at their table for literally everyone. There have been multiple times when I was at their house and someone would randomly show up for a visit and they would stop everything they were doing to invite them in to visit with them around their table. There were other times when there really wasn’t room for someone else at the table and they would make room. Why do they do that? Because they want everyone to know they are welcome, no matter what the circumstance. They want to walk in relationship with all that come to their property.
When I think about the times I really get to know someone well there are two places that come to mind. Around the table or in the living room. Whether we are partaking in a meal together, enjoying a cup of coffee or simply having a meeting, we can really get to know each other in those conversations that occur around the table. It’s not uncommon for me to have someone over for dinner and we never leave the table the entire time they are there. Even when we are done eating, we still continue to sit around the table and talk about what’s going on in our lives. In fact, it happened today with my family. We weren’t at my house, but we were at my parent’s house. Even after the meal was over, many of us gathered around the table where we had been sitting and continued to catch up on things going on in our lives.
I have some friends in my life that have said “Melissa, you always have a seat at our table” and I know they mean it. At first, it started as a joke because one of their kids told his parents that he would just put his stuff in “Ms. Melissa’s seat” when he was asked to clean the table because I wasn’t there. His parents told me that even to their kids, I have a seat at their table. I mean it made sense. I was there a lot for dinner and it was the seat I always sat in. I soon realized that, that statement went so much deeper than just the fact that I was in their home often. It had to do with relationship. It had to do with us growing closer together and me becoming part of their family. It had to do with the fact that I had both laughed and cried at that same table. It had to do with the fact that we had tough conversations at that table, the kind of conversations that really make you grow. It had to do with the fact that they told me they were proud of me at that table. It had to do with the fact that we built each other up at the table and encouraged one another. All of these things happened because we have a relationship with one another.
When God invites us to sit at his table, it is because he wants to have a relationship with us. He wants us to spend time with him. He wants us to commune with him. He wants us to get to know him deeper. He wants to tell us the hard things, the things that make us grow. So, when I say there is always room at the table with God, it to has to do with relationship. There is always room at the table of God.
As we continue in this holiday season, many of us will gather around the table with one another. I encourage you to think about who you are making room for at the table. And if you ever find yourself sitting alone at the table, remember that you always have a seat at God’s table. I am so thankful that God has given me so many people that I can sit with at the table. However, sitting alone at the table is not a bad thing either when it means you get to spend time with the Lord. So when you are wondering who you should allow to sit at your table, I encourage you to invite God to take the first seat and then invite others to join you. Be blessed this holiday season and every season after.
Anyone that knows me knows I absolutely love kayaking. I have always loved being out on the water, but there is something special about kayaking. I love the peacefulness of it all, yet the adventure it brings. I love the stillness, yet the excitement. And I especially love the community. One of my favorite things to do is kayak with my friends and family. So when my family decided to take a trip to Puerto Rico, it was obvious that we should book an excursion to kayak in the Bioluminescent Bay. This was the part of the trip I was looking forward to most, because of my love for kayaking.
There are only 5 Bioluminescent Bay’s in the world and 3 of them are in Puerto Rico. We booked our excursion months in advance to make sure we got to participate in this once in a life time adventure. Tuesday came, the day we were set out to kayak, and I was full of excitement. Our trip didn’t begin until after 9:00pm because we had to wait until the sun went down. I am normally not a night person, but this time I was going to have to be. I made sure I rested all day so that I would save my energy for the excitement of the night.
We ate dinner as quickly as we could and then headed to the kiosk where we would begin the tour. We got there a whole hour early, to make sure we didn’t get lost. Luckily, it was pretty easy to get to where we needed to be. I could hear the waves crashing as we sat on the shore waiting for our turn to go. The company we were kayaking with told us that the current was stronger that night but it would still be fun. I had no idea how strong it was until we got going.
FINALLY! It was our turn to get in the boats. Each kayak was tandem style (meaning two people per boat). We had 6 in our group, so splitting up was easy. We had already discussed in the van ride over who would ride together. I ended up being paired with my friend, Rachel, that night. Rachel rode in the back and I rode in the front. Crew members were helping folks get in their boats because it’s tricky getting in a boat by yourself. It’s very tricky getting in a boat with two people. I decided we didn’t need help. Since I kayak frequently, I know how to get in a boat. And if we flip…. Well, we’ll just try again. I held the boat so that Rachel could get on and then I jumped on. I don’t think I have ever caught so much air in my life. I was so excited that my jump on the boat was higher than ever before. Everyone around me, my family, my friends and even strangers were laughing as they heard me give a big “wooooo” and into the boat I went. I had asked the crew if we could all stay together (my family and I) and they let me know they were just trying to get everyone in boats so they couldn’t guarantee that. I later realized, that wasn’t going to matter anyways. It was impossible to all stay together. We ended up starting in boats beside one another but that didn’t last long.
Once everyone was in their boat, we started on our journey. I was a little nervous because it was pitch black, but I was still excited. Each boat had a light on the back of it and we were to follow the color light that was desinated for our group. Our color was red, but apparently red was a popular color that night because many groups used the same color. I was not about to get lost from the group, so I hyper focused on the red light in front of me and stayed with that red light. Also, since it was dark the person in the back couldn’t always see what the person in front was doing so I had to constantly say “left, right, left right” to let Rachel know which way I was paddling so that she could match suit. I was really good at saying left and right at first but we started having to steer more and even I didn’t know which way I was paddling until the last minute. Sometimes I would say left and paddle right or vice versa. Rachel told me that eventually her eyes adjusted to the dark and she started watching my paddle instead of listening to my voice. She was a great partner to have. I’m sure she was tired of hearing my voice that night….
Once we got into the canal, it was a little trickier. Not only did we have to paddle in the dark, but we also had to watch out for other paddlers that were moving the opposite direction while going through a skinny canal. Many in my group ran into trees because the current was so strong. I got whacked in the arm by another paddler that was passing in the opposite direction. I didn’t understand why everyone was having such a hard time controlling their paddles until I was on the way back and we had to go against the current.
Once we got out of the canal and into the lagoon, we were able to split up from other groups. Our tour guides had us all line up side by side in our boats while they talked about where we were. The stars were beautiful that night. Our tour guides were really good at showing us the different constellations in the sky. The bioluminescent wasn’t super bright that night, but we could still see it if we splashed in the water. Each boat had a tarp in the back. Our tour guides asked us to pull out the tarp and put it over our heads to make it super dark. They then told us to splash the water into the boat under the tarp. When we did that, we were able to see the bioluminescent glowing in the boat. It was super neat to see and something I will always remember.
After the presentation, it was time to go back. They gave us a few minutes of “free time” to paddle around, but honestly that just meant paddling over to the beginning of the canal because as soon as we got to the edge of the water, it was time to go again. Some folks in my group (not my family) were racing to the edge and the playful person I am decided we should join in and I started paddling fast and full of energy…. Until Rachel told me to stop (in the nice Rachel way) because we still had to paddle all the way back up stream. She’s a good friend like that and knew that I shouldn’t waste my energy playing around.
We started paddling back up stream and that’s where it got crazy (as if it wasn’t already crazy before). It was paddling up stream when I realized why everyone I had seen earlier on the trip were having such a hard time. The currents were very strong and we were paddling against them. There was one spot I remember very clearly. Think whirl pool in the middle of a river. It was so strong that it was nearly impossible to control the boat. I remember hanging out of the boat half way trying to kick my foot to give my boat the power it needed to go where I wanted it to go. Plus, I was prepared if we had to grab onto something, I could jump first and grab the boat (trying to keep it from flipping). About that time, there was a raft guide in the water, catching everyone and pushing them to where they needed to go. I was thankful he was there helping. After that experience, I was a little worn out but did feel better. I heard our tour guide telling everyone to grab a tree so that we could wait for others. I was thankful for the rest. I thought we were just waiting for others to catch up. Then I saw one of the tour guides paddling two boats (one of which was from my group) to the front of the line. In the most playful way possible I say “ooooo someone’s in trouble.” Turns out some of the people in those boats had said “Melissa’s never going to let us live this down” before I had ever seen them and they were right. I love my family but we do enjoy teasing each other in a playful manner from time to time.
We started back on our journey and I don’t think we had even paddled 5 minutes before I saw a barricade of boats towards the entrance of the canal just sitting there. I immediately wondered why everyone was stopped. Then I saw someone in the water. It was my mom, hanging onto her boat for dear life. She was floating backwards to where we had just come from. My cousin was on the boat with her and the tour guide was trying to pull my mom back on the boat. I told Rachel we couldn’t leave while my mom was in the water so we sat there and watched, encouraging her that she could get back on the boat. We started floating backwards as well, then the tour guide told us to go ahead and keep paddling, that they were in good hands. There were some girls on another boat next two them that looked at me and said “yeah, Momma Diane and Momma Sheila got this.” I started laughing as I knew that my mom and cousin had just made a few new friends. The thing about my family is we really do make friends wherever we go.
We kept paddling and finally reached the opening of the canal and were almost back to where we started. Remember earlier when I said there were a lot of red lights that night? Apparently, I had followed the wrong red light back to the beginning and we ended up in the wrong group. One of the employees ended up grabbing my boat and walked us to the right group. I asked him where we were going and he told me “Cuba.” Everyone started laughing but then we were where we needed to be. We jumped off our boat and walked back to the shore. By this point, everyone was soaked and smelly. The whole car ride back, we laughed at all of the crazy things that happened. I was in tears from reliving the story. Actually, for a while after that night, I couldn’t tell the story without laughing so hard I was crying. When we were in the moment, I was truly worried because the currents really were rough. But once we were back on land and everyone was okay, we had a lot of fun laughing about our adventures.
I would go on this excursion again if given the opportunity, but I might need to do some sweet talking with the others in my group. They are all pros now. I bet we could go again and do even better. This really was a once in a life time opportunity and I am so glad my family made it a priority for us to go while we were in Puerto Rico.
It’s our first full day visiting Puerto Rico and the day we are visiting El Yunque National Rain Forest. We had to reserve our tickets ahead of time, so we knew this was the day we would be visiting the rain forest. I woke up at the crack of dawn with pure excitement. I am usually an early riser, but in Puerto Rico, I woke up even earlier. I think the sun rises earlier there because it would be 6:00am and the sun was bright as could be. Some of my family members made breakfast while I kept the conversation going (typical). After eating a full breakfast, we loaded the van and it was off to the rain forest.
I enjoyed being in the rainforest. It was fun hiking all of the trails and everyone we met was so nice. I was amazed how many people were from my home state. One family even used to live in the same exact town I live in. The father used to teach at the college I now work at. So crazy! I will talk to anyone, so it was no surprise I met so many cool people on the trails.
Some of the trails (like the El Yunque trail) were closed due to a recent storm, but we still got to hike a lot of the trails. Some of the hi-lights from the trip were visiting the Yokahu Tower and Mt. Britton. Mt. Britton was the highest peak we could get to on this trip. Yokahu Tower was the first hike we got to. It wasn’t much of a hike. You really just pull into the parking lot and hike up the tower. The tower, however, was very steep. It had great acoustics and a gorgeous view from the top. Watch the video attached to this post to see one of my friends sing in the tower.
After we visited Yokahu, we stopped for some empanadas before beginning our next hike. The empanadas were so fresh. These were actually the only empanadas I had the whole trip. I honestly thought I would have more but there were so many types of food I wanted to try. After lunch it was time to hike Mt. Britton.
Hiking Mt. Britton was definitely the hardest hike we did. It was straight up and went on for several miles. I was so glad I took my hiking sticks. Several folks on the trail said they had wished they brought hiking sticks as well. This was where I met so many people from all over the place, mostly North Carolina haha. My two friends and cousin made it up to the top of Mt. Britton with me. When we got up there, we were certainly in the clouds. It was really neat. The hike back down the mountain to catch up with the rest of my family seemed much quicker than the hike going up.
We were in Puerto Rico in June so it was hot. After we hiked Mt. Britton, we set out to find a swimming hole. With another short hike and good conversation, we found ourselves at a beautiful swimming hole with a beautiful waterfall. The water was so cool and refreshing. There was another waterfall above where we were that some of us wanted to go visit. We set out on another trail to find the other waterfall and ended up getting lost. The funny thing is, the trail we were on looked like we were on the right trail the whole time. It had clearly been hiked on quite a bit and even had perfect grooves in the trees for us to climb up, just like the other trail. Once we realized it was a dead end, we turned around to go back down. We thought we just weren’t going to get to see it. As we were going down, some other hikers told us how to get to the second waterfall. It was much closer to where we started than we had originally hiked. At this point, my legs were shaking from all of the climbing but I still got as close to the water fall as I could. My two friends, went all the way to the falls for me and took photos. We weren’t there very long because we knew the rest of my family was ready to leave. As we were hiking down the trail, my cousin showed up wanting to know how close the water fall was. My friend was able to take her to the water fall while I started the climb down. If we hadn’t of gotten lost and taken so long on the trail, my cousin may have missed out.
After this adventurous hike, covered in mud, we knew it was time to go get cleaned up and find dinner. Hiking in El Yunque was amazing. It was hot, but it honestly didn’t feel hot because of all of the trees. I only had one complaint…. It didn’t rain! We were in the rainforest and saw no rain! I am thankful God gave us a gorgeous day in the rainforest but I do have to laugh at the fact that it didn’t rain the whole time we were there. Maybe next time.
The day has finally come. We have been planning this trip for the last year and a half. For me, I have been hoping and dreaming the day would one day come to go on this trip for at least all of my adult life, maybe even part of my childhood. You might be wondering what trip I am talking about. It’s a trip to Puerto Rico. Let me give you a little bit of a back story.
My family is actually Puerto Rican. My great-grandparents were from Puerto Rico. They moved to the United States in their adult years, which is why most of the Garcia side of my family now lives in the States. I have always been interested in my heritage. I got to know my great-grandparents while they were still living. My great-grandfather passed away when I was only 6 years old, but I still remember him. I remember going to his house and sitting on the couch with him. That’s about all I got though. My great-grandmother didn’t go to be with the Lord until I was 15. I have much more memories of her. I used to love sitting around listening to the stories my great-grandmother would tell me of her and Granddaddy. It was because of those stories (and her fine cooking I might add) that I really grew an appreciation for my heritage. My grandfather has lived on to continue telling me stories of my heritage and it’s because of him that my appreciation for my heritage has grown even deeper.
Fast Forward to several years ago when I was on a trip with a couple of friends visiting Colorado. While we were on that trip, I told them that I wanted my next big trip to be a trip to Puerto Rico. They knew going to Puerto Rico was a dream of mine, so it was no surprise that I would be seriously talking about going. Not long after that conversation, I was talking to my mom and she said “Melissa, we just need to set a date and go to Puerto Rico. Let’s start planning and see who will join us. If we don’t ever set a date, we’ll never go.” My mom had never been to Puerto Rico before either and you know she wasn’t going to let me go on this trip without her. I have traveled without my mom before, but there was no way in the world she was going to let me go to Puerto Rico without her. Especially since the whole goal was to learn even more about my heritage.
So here were are traveling to Puerto Rico for the first time! Finally! We flew out of Charlotte, North Carolina because Charlotte was one of the airports that offered a direct flight to PR. My mom, two of my closest friends (although if you ask my mom, she would say we are more like sisters) and I all stayed in Salisbury the night before with my immediate family. We loaded the truck and off to the airport we went. We met my aunt at the Charlotte airport and it immediately felt like a reunion. I hadn’t seen my aunt in several years so it was really special that she was coming with us. We also all got to sit on the plane together, which was amazing because my aunt had bought her ticket a while after we bought ours.
From the very beginning, everyone was so nice. My first experience of Puerto Rico (outside of my family) was actually at the airport. We met several incredibly nice people both at the airport and on the plane. The first place I wanted to go after going through airport security was to get breakfast. While we were eating, my mom and aunt walked up to the table I was sitting at but there was no room at the table. It made sense because the tables were small and we had a large group. This incredibly nice man, offered for them to sit with him and they started chatting. He was retired from the Air Force just like my grandpa and he was on his way to visit his son who was living in Puerto Rico. So cool! As the conversation continued, it was discovered that he was sitting in the row in front of us on the plane. That poor man! I may have dropped my water bottle on him while on the plane, but he was so gracious. THEN there was a lady that was sitting in the last seat of the row my family was in and she talked to my mom the entire trip! They talked about how she owned an Air BnB and how she was going back to Puerto Rico to take care of her house. She was also incredibly nice! But you know, this is how my family does life, making friends everywhere we go.
My friends let me have the window seat so that I could see Puerto Rico as we arrived and I was so grateful they let me have that opportunity. 3 hours, 1 movie, many laughs, and maybe a tear or two later, we were finally there! As I looked out the window to see us approaching Puerto Rico all I knew to do was say “Thank you, Jesus!” I couldn’t believe it was finally happening! My dream had come true! Grinning from ear to ear it was time to race off the airplane, grab our bags and get going. I was just so happy! I remember hugging my mom when we landed and telling her how grateful I was.
We met up with two of my cousins who had flown in from another airport, grabbed our rental car and it was off to grocery store and dinner before going to our new home for the week. This travel day was so smooth (for the most part) and I was just excited to be in the place I had always dreamed of being, experiencing the culture and learning even more about my heritage. I plan to write more about this trip, but I am splitting it up into several blog posts because I have so much to say. This post really could go on forever. Keep a look out for future posts about my trip to Puerto Rico! Thanks for reading. God Bless.
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God has really been showing me a lot about his love for me lately. I’m still not quite sure I understand just how deep God’s love for me is, but I feel it. Over the past month and a half or so, I have really felt the presence of God in my life. I know I have always been in the presence of God, but this time it’s felt different. This time I could actually feel it. You know that feeling you get when you know something is near you but you can’t see it? Yeah, it’s that kind of feeling. I know God’s presence has been surrounding me. I can feel it and this feeling is not like a feeling I’ve ever felt before.
So, how deep is God’s love for us? That’s a good question. God’s love is so much deeper than we can ever comprehend. Did you know that God is the definition of love? The Bible tells us that God is love. So if anyone knows about love, it’s God. 1 John 4:19 says “we love because he first loved us.” The reason why we love others, and why we get to receive love from others, is because God first loved us.
I am amazed every day at how much God demonstrates his love for me. This may come as a surprise to you, but I’m not perfect. I’m kidding, of course. Everyone knows I’m not perfect. None of us are. Yet, God has loved me through every mistake. He’s loved me through every single mess I’ve found myself in. He’s loved me through every sin. He’s loved me when I didn’t think I deserved to be loved because of my mistakes and he never stopped loving me. Why? Because he’s God and because he is love.
In the same way, God’s love for you runs deep. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or what you’ve said, God still loves you. He loves you more than anyone else ever could. He loves you so much that he sacrificed his son for you. That’s how deep his love is. He loves you so much that he calls you mine. He loves us so much he calls us his children. He loves us so much that he says we are chosen, we have been forgiven, and we have been set free. That’s how deep God’s love is.
Romans 8 talks about God’s ever lasting love. It says this… “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died, more than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution…..No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angles nor rules, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:31-39
It’s cool because depending on the translation you are using, you might see a different title for this passage. Some translations call this passage “More than Conquerors” while other translations say “Our Victory in Christ.” The Bible app on my phone says “God’s Everlasting Love.” I like that there are so many different titles because it shows that because of God’s everlasting love, we really can be victorious.
Many years ago when I had made a mistake and was beating myself up over the mistake, someone very dear to my heart shared this passage with me. It really was a game changer in my life. It reminded me that there was nothing I could do that would ever separate me from Christ. I later wrote a song about this passage because it meant so much to me. Even though I really do strive to do what is right and live the most godly life possible, I still recognize I am human and I am going to mess up. I am encouraged to know that no matter how bad I mess up, God still loves me. Even if I feel like I am walking alone, God is still with me. He is caring for me and he is constantly pouring out his love for me.
No matter where you go in life, God is with you. He still loves you and he cares for you. His love runs so deep that we can only try to explain it. He loves us more than we could ever fathom. He demonstrated that love for us on the cross before we ever came into existence and he continues to demonstrate that love for us every day.
Be encouraged in this. You are chosen by God. You are his and he loves you so so much. His love really does run deep. You can be, and you will be, victorious in Christ Jesus because of his great love for you. The Bible tells us “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13. When Jesus died for you and I, he demonstrated the greatest amount of love anyone ever could. He laid down his life for us. But it doesn’t stop there. He continues to demonstrate his love for us every day and his love will never run out. You are loved by God and that is all that matters. Amen.
Several things have been on my mind this week as I have really been seeking the Lord about what is on his heart for me. I really had no idea what I was going to write about this week until earlier today because I had several options. Even though there has been a lot on my heart and mind, the thing that is most pressing is to let God use me where I am. I really want to encourage all readers in this. Let God use you where you are.
If you are like me, you probably had plans that you really thought were going to come to fruition but never did. Those plans could have been getting a new job, going to visit a friend, moving to a big city, traveling abroad. No matter how big or how small the plans were, they haven’t happened yet. I am a planner. Always have been, always will be. Even though I have seen a lot of plans actually happen. I’ve also also seen plans never occur. If you told me 12 years ago that I would be a Retention Advisor one day, helping students in academic difficulty, I would have laughed at you, as I was struggling academically myself. I had plans to be a youth pastor. I also had plans to make a living working in a church full-time. Never once did I think I would be working at a college with students as my career.
God had other plans for me. The Bible tells us “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.” Isaiah 55:8. God’s thoughts are so much greater than our thoughts and his ways are so much better than our ways. God’s ways are the best ways because he knows us. He knows what we need. He knows what we are good at. And he has good plans for us.
God has really been speaking to me about letting him use me where I am. See, I’m not currently in full-time ministry like I thought I would be by now and that’s okay. Or at least not the type of ministry I thought I would be in. One may argue that we are all in full-time ministry and I would agree with them. I can still share the love of Jesus no matter where I am. Now I know I can’t go preaching to everyone at my job. That’s not legal. But what I can do is love them like Christ loves them.
I have two close friends that I have talked about this sort of thing with before. We have been friends for about 13 years now and most of that has been long distance. We used to talk about how cool it would be if we all lived in the same town again. This topic usually came up as we were talking about how we missed each other when one of us wasn’t there. Then we started talking about how we know that is not what God has for us. All of us would say we would love to live close together and would definitely rock it doing ministry together, but we wouldn’t be able to meet as many people. See, if we all worked in the church we wouldn’t be able to reach those outside the church. We would only have a tiny bubble of people we were reaching.
God has really been reminding me of this lately. He has been reminding me that yes, I am not doing the things I had planned to do, but he is still using me. I know that God is using me in my job. I know that he is using me at home. I know that he is using me when I am with my friends. I have a few co-workers in my life that are also my friends outside of work. Like we actually hang out with each other away from the office. It’s crazy, I know! Just the other day one of those co-workers said “Melissa, you really are the same person every where you go. You are the same at work as you are outside of work” and she’s right. I have always strived to be the same person no matter where I am. I can be just as much of a light when I am with my church friends as I can when I am with my co-workers. There is something to be said about surrounding yourself with other believers to build you up, but we can also love non-believers just as much.
I really want to encourage you in this: Let God use you where you are. It doesn’t matter if you are working at Wendy’s, on a college campus, at a local high school or at a church, God can still use you where you are. You may not be able to preach at your job, but you can show the love of Christ with your actions. You may not be able to pray for that student who is going through a difficult time while they are in your office, but you can pray for them silently when they leave.
I don’t know what God has for me next. What I do know is that he is going to use me no matter where I am. I also know that he will use you if you let him. It is my prayer that you will let God use you and you will be obedient to what he has for you. Amen.
God has really been speaking to me about the word “thanks” a lot over the last few weeks. The words “thank you” have always been huge in my life. I frequently use them to show my appreciation to others. In the same way, I enjoy hearing those words said to me every now and then.
A couple of weeks ago, I had gotten home late at night and went straight to my couch to pray before I went to bed. I had a lot on my mind and really just wanted to talk to God. I had an agenda that night and was planning to ask God for all of these different things to happen in my life. For the first time, I really had a list and God was going to hear about all of my request. As I started to pray, I really felt a stir in my spirit to lay aside all of those request and just simply thank God instead. You see, God wants us to come to him with our request but it shouldn’t be because we have an agenda. It shouldn’t be because we want to see issues resolved. It shouldn’t be because we are dealing with heartbreak. We should come to God just because we want to have a relationship with him. That night, my mindset quickly changed. My list of asks quickly became a list of thanks.
I started to thank God for all he has done in my life and all he is going to do in my life. Then I moved on to thanking God for all of the people in my life, well all of the people that came to mind that night. I probably listed at least 50 people and called them by name. Anywhere from family, to close friends, to kids of my friends, to acquaintances. It didn’t matter if they were my best friend or someone I didn’t always see eye to eye with. If God reminded me of them, I thanked God for them. I just kept naming people. And the more I thanked God, the more my attitude changed for the better. I went to bed full of joy because I realized how good I really did have it.
Colossians 3:15 says “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” I really believe that if we change the way we pray and simply thank God instead, we will be filled with peace. Yes, we are going to go through difficult times but we can thank God in those difficult times as well. If we start to thank God instead of just asking him for things, we will be filled with peace because we will see that God has been there the whole time. Just as it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Giving thanks in all circumstances is really huge for me. Some of my greatest trials in life are the things that helped me grow the most. Those trials may have been difficult at the time, but they are also the thing that drew me closer to Christ. They are the thing that helped me see how much I am loved. They are the thing that helped me grow more than I ever thought possible. So can we give thanks in all circumstances? Yes! Even when it’s hard, we can still thank God because he is with us no matter where we are.
The whole next day I was out of town visiting my family and all I could do was thank God. I had a 3 hour drive to my grandparents house and just spent a lot of time listening to podcast and music while worshipping the Lord. When I got to my hometown, I called my mom (who had went on ahead of me) to see where she was. Since we still have a lot of family and friends we are close to in my hometown that we like to visit, I wasn’t sure where my mom might be. She had let me know she was at my grandparents house and that my grandpa was up already, and had been tracking me during my whole trip. My grandpa is able to see my location on my phone so as long as I have my phone on me (which is 99% of the time). At first I was confused why he would get up so early to track me. That wasn’t normal for him. Then my mom let me know that my grandpa was waken up by a tornado warning and the first thing he thought of was me driving. I had no idea there was a tornado warning. I drove through rain most of the way down the mountain, but even the winds weren’t that bad. He later discovered that the tornado warning was way ahead of where I was and that I wouldn’t be going through it. When I hung up the phone with my mom, I just started to thank God again. I had no idea any of this was going on until it was already over, but God had everything under control. I thanked God for having a means in place, where my grandpa can see where I am at all times for situations like this. I thanked God for my family, that really does a deep care for me. And I thanked God for always protecting me, even when I don’t realize it.
1 Corinthians 1:4 is one of my favorite scriptures because it speaks about relationship (my favorite thing). It says “I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.” I will continue thanking God for those he has placed in my life for each season I have been through and I hope you will do the same.
It is also my prayer that I will always continue to thank God in every situation. When things are going great, I will thank God. When things are a little harder, I will continue to thank God. I believe it really is time for us to change our mindset on how we pray and simply just thank God for all he’s done and all he is going to do. Will you join me?
In today’s society people just want to fit in. They want people to like them. They want to be able to hold that job that everyone wants. They want to make a lot of money. They want to have that cool car or the big house. I am here to tell you that you are not defined by what you have or what you don’t have. You are not defined by what you can do or what you can’t do. You are defined by Jesus.
For most of my life, I have been one that looked at how others saw me. I wanted to be liked. I wanted to be really good at sports and at music. I didn’t want to be a failure. I wanted to be successful as the world defined success. I got so focused on how others saw me, I lost sight of how God sees me. I was more concerned about pleasing others and I forgot about pleasing God. And not only on that, I lost sight of how I see myself. When you can’t see your own value, that’s not good. The older I get, the more I realize those things don’t matter. What does matter is how God defines me.
Let’s take my height for example. Anyone that knows me knows I am typically the shortest, or one of the shortest, in the bunch. And if you don’t know that, then hi! I’m Melissa and welcome to my blog. I always wanted to be taller. Why? Because tall people play basketball. Tall people can reach the top shelf without getting a ladder out of the closet. Tall people can hold themselves up. No one messes with tall people (that’s not true by the way). I used to let my height hinder me, but I don’t anymore. I really owe it to a former colleague that once said “Melissa, I’m not getting things down for you anymore. Figure it out.” One might think she was being mean, but honestly if you heard the rest of the conversation you would realize she was helping me. She encouraged me to not let my height be a hinderance. Now there really are some things I can’t do because I am shorter than most, but my height does not define me. Several years ago I was asking the Lord about my height. I didn’t understand why I was so much shorter than my peers and why my brother was so much taller. I really felt like the Lord said “I made you just the way you are for a purpose, your height is perfect.” Now I’m not saying short people are perfect and tall people are not. I am saying that we are all made different, yet we are all perfect because God made us. He made us just the way we are for a reason. Just like God made me short for a purpose, he made my brother tall for a purpose. What’s Alex’s purpose? Getting stuff off the top shelf for me, of course! I’m just kidding. In all seriousness, my height doesn’t define me, just like my brother’s height doesn’t define him. We are both perfect because God made us both. Think about it, if we were all the same life would be very boring. And I’m not one to strive for a boring life.
I want to encourage everyone who reads my blog in this: You are not defined by what you have or don’t have. You are not defined by what you look like. You are not defined by the job you have. You are not defined by how much money you have or how big your house is. You are not defined by who likes you and who doesn’t. You are not defined by how tall you are or how short you are. You ARE defined by the Lord. Have you ever thought about how God sees you? I guarantee you, it will encourage you.
See, God says “you are fearfully and wonderfully made.” Psalm 139:14. God says you are “precious and honored in my sight.” Isaiah 43:4. God says “you are loved.” 1 John 4:19. God says “you are my child.” 1 John 3:1. God says “you are chosen.” 1 Peter 2:9. God says “you are the light of the world.” Matthew 5:14. God says “you are my friend.” John 15:15. God says “you are righteous.” 2 Corinthians 5:21. God says you are “more than conquerors.” Romans 8:37.
I hope you will see your value the way God sees you. Let me encourage you in this. You are worth more than the job you hold. You are worth more than your financial status. You are worth more than the friends you have. You are worth more than the car you own. You are worth more than the house you live in. You are worth more than the skills you hold. You are worth so much more than what you can or can’t do. You are worth more than all of that stuff. You are worth so much that Jesus paid the ultimate price (his life) for you. And if you don’t believe anything else that I am saying in this post, believe this….. YOU ARE WORTH IT because God says you are worth it. So, what is your value? Ask Jesus. Look at God’s word. And I can assure you, you will see your value the way you are supposed to see it. God Bless.
I recently finished my first 5K. I planned on walking the whole time. I just wanted to finish. The reason why I wanted to walk the whole time was because I had a foot injury several years ago from playing a sport I love and have been out of shape ever since then. I was in great shape before my injury and have been working hard to get back in shape ever since. Even though I walked most of the time, I actually ended up running some and was proud of myself for doing such. It’s hard not to run when you see others run. You kind of get swept up in it, or at least I do (it’s the competitiveness in me).
While I was walking/running the 5K, I had my music in my headphones and really just got to spend time with the Lord. I had no idea how much he would speak to me through this race. It really was amazing all that he deposited into my spirit. As a Christian, there really is so much that we can learn from running a race. At the beginning of the race, I was excited. I had been preparing for this day and the adrenaline got to me. I was ready to go! I was actually moving pretty fast. A friend of mine (that frequently runs 5Ks) was texting me while I was walking and she even stated it was amazing how fast I was moving. She had planned to be there with me but her family had been sick that day.
About halfway through the race, I started looking behind me. I was curious to see who was behind me and how far back they were. The more I looked back the slower I got. I was no longer looking ahead, I was looking back. It was in that moment that I felt like God said “Melissa, run your race.” 1 Corinthians 9:24 says “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” See, this race we are running is our own. It’s not anyone else’s race to run. We should all be running like we are the only one that can win. Someone very dear to my heart used to tell me “run the race like you are the only one that can win. Don’t slow down for others. Run your race. Those that are meant to run with you will keep up with you and will run beside you.” When I started to look back, I slowed down. I was concerned about those that were behind me. When we run after the things God has for us with all of our heart, we can’t slow down for those that are behind us. We have to keep running. We can encourage them to join us but we can’t slow down to wait for them.
Hebrews 12:1-2 says “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” Run your race! Set your eyes on Jesus! I will do the same.
Once I got towards the end of the race, I was definitely exhausted but I knew I had to finish. I started running again and someone looked at me and said “Keep going! Way to finish strong!” Which by the way, I was amazed at the amount of people that were encouraging one another. Whether they were on the sidelines cheering or running the race themselves, there was a lot of encouragement. It’s a good reminder that no matter if we are running the race as well or on the sidelines, we can still encourage others to run their race. It’s not a competition when we are racing to God. Even if it were, we could still encourage each other to run their very best race. My pastor used to tell me “Run the race like it’s the last 100 yards.” Even though I was tired, I pushed through and finished the race as hard as I could. I finished strong.
It is my prayer, that I will always run my race and run it with all of my heart. I encourage you to do the same. Just like in a 5K, some run fast and some run slow, but it’s our race to run. So no matter if you run fast, or run slow, run with all of your heart. Run as if you are the only one that can win the prize. See, God doesn’t care who runs the fastest, as long as we are running to him with all of our heart. God Bless.
