The One with the Beautiful Friend

I have a friend. A very good friend. She is loyal. She is faithful. She is loving. She is supportive. She is fun. She is a listener. She is beautiful. She loves Jesus. 

When I read the Project 31 prompt "Write a Blog to Encourage Another Beautiful Woman," I knew God was leading me to share these words with my friend, Brittney. 

Britt, thank you for being an example of what a good friend should be. I know I can always count on you to be there, and I am learning from you what a true friendship looks like. You have stuck by me through a lot, and I am eternally grateful. 

I want you to know I love you, and I pray for you often. God has a beautiful plan for your life, Britt. I have every confidence that He is working in you in a mighty way. He's taken you through ups and downs, and you've followed Him faithfully. I am excited to see what awaits you and Nick around the bend. Just keeping holding onto Jesus. He will carry you.

I am inspired by your perseverance. You show this strong quality in every aspect of your life--and it is truly an example to me and to many others. Hold on to that hope you have within you, knowing God is act work.

Thank you for being my friend. 

The One with the [5 minute] Women

On this wonderful wintery Friday, I am joining The Gypsy Mama and others on a Five Minute Friday post. The prompt: "The Women."

START.

These past couple days have been a day of "The Women"--just Mom and me. It's been lovely, really. Dad is on a Utah trip with the guys, skiing his little heart out, and mom wanted some company. I was happy to oblige for a few days. I arrived Thursday morning at 11:30 and we hit the ground running. Well, not really. We had no place to go, no plans made. It was "whatever we feel like doing" day. Excellent. 

The first thing we felt like doing was eating lunch at Steak N Shake. Burger, small fries, and small drink (The "Snack Pack") for $2.79? Heck yes! TWO hours later, we finally decided it was time to leave. The conversation had been so sweet, so non-stop, neither of us wanted to call it quits.:) 

Side note: Have any of you been around 2 women who haven't been together in a month or more? It's one topic after another and back again in rapid fire succession. We had one general topic of conversation with at least 45 different tributaries--all of which were necessary to the main discussion. So fun, but so hard to keep track of. 

Since then, we've bought picture frames and developed wall hangings together. 

Skyped from room to room. 

And enjoyed a few too many chocolate chip cookies. 

Sounds like a perfect day in the life of "The Women." 

STOP.

The One with the Letter of Love

The glory of God is a man fully alive. [St. Iranaeus]

A letter of thanks.

Dear Kevin, 

I think you know by now how wholly and passionately I love you. But, my husband, I truly believe without your incredible love for me, I wouldn't have the capacity for such a love. God has given you an enormous responsibility--to love me as Christ loved the Church. I can say with complete honesty that you are the greatest embodiment of Christ in my life.

Watching you become a man of God is such a privilege. You have such fire for His Word, such a passion for His people. Following you as you walk in faith toward a foreign land shows me your deepest heart--obedience to Christ no matter the cost. We may feel like Abraham and Sarah at times, but holding hands and seeking the voice of the Lord is all He has called us to. I never would have dreamed we would be on this journey. But it is true discipleship, and I would have it no other way.

Thank you for loving me. Just me. All of me. You accept my whole being without making exceptions or corrections, and you encourage me to do the same. You see the woman God created me to be, and you love me enough to walk alongside me as I journey to that wholeness. 

You have made my heart come fully alive. God sees and rejoices. 

Walking with you, 

Melanie

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Linked up with Day5 of Project 31.

The One with a Flash of My Future

 

Top Ten Ways I Got a Glimpse into My Future 

This morning was just dandy--everything going according to plan my desire. Or not! The first two hours of my day gave me a vision of what the rest of my life will be like--you know, once my days are filled with our offspring throwing a wrench in my lovely little schedule. Of course, it'll be worth it and probably a good thing to rid myself of my fairly self-centered lifestyle. 

1. As I'm cozy in bed, still fighting with the reality that the alarm clock was close to buzzing, I heard Kevin down the hall. He was shouting, "No! No!" and then the bright hallway lights turned out, shining into my sleepy eyes. The cat was throwing up. 

2. I rolled over and pretended I was none the wiser. 

3. After my workout, I came upstairs with a plan to head to the shower. Kevin beat me to it. 

4. I came up with an alternate plan--eat breakfast. 

5. As I was toasting my cinnamon raisin bagel and dreaming of spreading it with Nutella, I realized the trash can was overflowing. 

6. I took out the trash, only to realize the bag was leaking some sort of liquid all over the kitchen floor. 

7. Grabbing a rag, I began wiping up the mess. It was at this point that I almost stepped in a pile of cat poop conveniently located on the floor entrance into the cat's bathroom. 

8. The litter box was overflowing, and someone decided it was high time we did something about it. Thanks, Cat.

9. Still donning my sweaty workout clothes and ignoring the fact that my bagel has been done for 15 minutes, I dumped a billion pounds of cat poo and swept up $11 worth of kitty litter from the floor. (Why can't they just shake their feet off in the litter box?!)

10. At this point, I had no other choice than to sweep the entire kitchen floor and then pull out the hated mop bucket for a thorough cleaning. I had been putting this off for weeks, knowing that the wintertime does nothing but make my floor dirty again in moments. 

If you have any doubts of the accounts of my morning, just ask my husband. He can attest to this story in it's entirety. (Oh! Except don't tell him I was awake while he was cleaning up cat vomit!)

Do you ever have mornings like this?! (or a hundred times worse?)

linked up with Oh!Amanda's Top Ten Tuesday.

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The One with the Beauty Inspiration

I have so many beautiful friends. For real--these girls are drop dead gorgeous and their inner lives shine the same light. I am blessed. 

One woman who inspires beauty in my life is Brooke.

photo by studio bree.

I met this gorgeous girl when we moved in across the hall from each other our freshmen year of college. As soon as I saw her, I thought, "Oh my gosh, she's so pretty. I'm sure she'll be nice, but I can't imagine ever being friends with someone that beautiful." No kidding.

photo by studio bree.

But from that day on, Brooke proved me wrong. She was the most genuine person I had ever met. She laughed without embarrassment. She loved with her whole heart. She listened with her whole being. She prayed with the depths of her spirit. 

I was supremely blessed to get to spend an entire summer with this girl. We were the only two females on a traveling worship team of eight. We clung to each other. We laughed and cried. We talked late into the night--sharing dreams and secrets. I never could have survived those months without a real friend like Brooke.

(yes we both fit into this sweatshirt.)

Nearly five years have passed since that summer, and I still feel Brooke is a sister of mine. I am honored to have her in my life. Being around her makes anyone want to experience the joy of the Lord that pours of our her smile. She is constantly doing too many things, but you'll never hear her complaining. She works hard to be everything God wants her to be--and I have to say, she's doing an awfully good job. 

Thank you, Brookie, for loving me and showing me what true beauty really is. 

linked with Day 3 of Project31.

The One with that's Uniquely Me

I pray many of you were encouraged by the words Jesus has spoken into my life concerning the beauty of a woman. My heart's desire is to learn how to fully embrace the beauty God has created in my life and to help all women experience that same freedom.

Part of this process, I believe, is seeing who YOU really are--all of your quirks, your passions, your thoughts, your talents, your hobbies, your needs. Though many of us share some aspects of our personalities, each one of us have an almost-DNA-like conglomeration of qualities. We are beautifully unique.

What makes you uniquely you?

I'll start.

Hi! My name is Melanie, and I don't have to work very hard at keeping up with my "adorkable" title. Sure, I can be cute, but much of the time I evoke a response of "aww, well isn't that cute?" I have some serious quirks. Idiosyncrasies if you will.

My toilet paper must roll over the top.
My toothpaste should be squeezed evenly from the bottom.
I insist that water be turned off when not actually in use--such as while brushing my teeth.
I keep lists.
Scrap paper notepads are in drawers all over my house--desk, bathroom, bedroom.
I fold my underwear.
I stack my socks.
I bake for fun. And to relieve stress. (Though I'm not so sure it's the baking that relieves stress or the eating.)
I really can't stand more than 5 emails left unanswered in my inbox.
I can watch hours of tv at a time, but half an hour into any movie and I'm asleep. (Kevin thinks it's the "canned laughter" that keeps me engaged during tv.)
I like skim milk, natural peanut butter, homemade wheat bread, fresh cut vegetables, and granny smith apples.
I also like chocolate chip cookies, mint chocolate chip ice cream, fudge brownies, and 99% of other ice cream varieties.
I used to really not like cats.
Now I have two.
Our bed has a severe sink hole in the center. I'm a chronic snuggler.

Those are the random facts--that honestly don't matter a whole lot in the grand scheme of eternity. The rest of my life goes a little something like this:

I grew up learning about Jesus. Mom and Dad taught me Scripture memory verses at a very young age. They even have a video of my whipping off I John 5:11-12 as if it was to save to my life. (Funny thing--it pretty much was.) I was the first one to raise my hand in Sunday School class with the answer. (Yes, I'm still that kid. I'm a firstborn ok??) I loved singing Bible songs like "Jesus Loves Me," "Beloved," "Have Patience," Special Specialitiy," and every song my mom every led during our summers of Vacation Bible School.

My little sister and I fought all the time--most of it was blamed on me. The first born has to be the one responsible and the responsible one, right? But we also loved each other dearly. We'd rather spend hours playing Barbies or "house," or "school" by ourselves than with lots of friends. We became best friends as I went through high school. I'm so thankful for her.

My years in high school were fairly uneventful. I didn't do a whole lot with school friends--church and youth group was my life. I was on my youth group leadership team from 9th grade on and I loved every minute of it. (Foreshadowing, maybe?) I learned more and more about Scripture, I memorized more Bible verses, and I learned the true meaning of getting outside my comfort zone.

I graduated Salutatorian with a 4.0 GPA, was class speaker, and on Homecoming and Prom courts. I really don't know how those things happened. I was far from cool. I just pray it was because people were drawn to the Jesus in me.

I spent the next four years of my life meeting adulthood head on at one of the best universities--Spring Arbor. I learned how to live with people other than family. I learned the true meaning of stress. And how to deal with it. I learned what friendships are really made of. I learned how to think for myself--and how to not think I know I all. I learned so much about worshiping, and studying Scripture, and pretending to understand philosophy. (It's still beyond me and I was Philosophy/Religion major.) I learned what it meant to fall in love once and for all.

And all of those experiences are what have made me into who I am today. I'm not done changing. Becoming. But for now, I'm embracing who I am. I am Melanie. Wife of Kevin. Daughter of Karen and Danny. Sister of Ashley. Leader of teens. Lover of good books and hot tea and piano music. I will forever be a list maker, a family girl, a homebody, and a pursuer of no-nonsense relationships. I hope I will also love baking and hostessing--opening my door to anyone who will enter. I will continue to pursue the heart of God with as much passion as He has pursued me. I want each day of my life to matter in eternity.

Who are you?

Linked up with Day 2 of Project 31.