Holidays

Happy New Year!

- Melody

Happy New Year all! I love this time of year. I don’t necessarily reflect but look forward to the coming year and make plans for what I’d like to accomplish. Here are some I jotted down the other day:

-save lots of money! (I’m buying myself a fancy new camera for graduation!)
-eat cleaner and healthier
-incorporate exercise into our daily routine
-finish two more semesters of school (easy!)
-practice piano

I can’t wait to get started on these!

This week the blog will be deserted as Jason and I are heading to Atlanta for the Passion conference! As I’m writing this Jason and I are washing clothes and packing in preparation for our very early start in the morning! 10 hour road trip here we come!

Happy New Year!

love,
melody

Thanksgiving: Part Four

- Melody

Yes. Yes. We ventured out at midnight to Old Navy of all places for Black Friday. Call us crazy, it’s okay. We called ourselves far worse. We were actually pretty close to the door for getting there at 11. Soon after we got there, the line started backing up. Way up. When they started letting people in 20 at a time, everyone went straight for the $1 scarves and grabbed handfuls of them. Really? How many necks do you know?

The only reason I even wanted to go was for their 50% off outerwear and they didn’t even have the coat I wanted. However, I still managed to spend $60. Ha! You can read about my insane encounter with appalling grown women here.  I’m still angry…

It’s Easter

- Melody

I’ve thought and wrestled all weekend about what I should say on this blog about Easter. Honestly, this post could go on for days if I wrote all I was feeling. So I’ll just hit you with the highlights.

After an incredible (that’s an understatement) church service I couldn’t help but think about all those people that were there. Let me clarify. Why is it that so many people come out of the woodwork only for Easter? What is it about this day that people feel compelled to attend a church service? Not even that many come out to a Christmas service. Is it because they bought a new dress at Dillard’s and need somewhere to wear it? Isn’t that why companies sell those dresses to begin with? Just so you can spend a wad of money to wear it to a church you’ll probably never go to again until next Easter? I hope I’m not sounding cynical. But think about it. What do those hundreds of people do every other Sunday? Why do they only come on Easter? If we’re being really real here, they probably won’t retain that message. I do pray that the Holy Spirit would open their eyes to the miracle that is the resurrection. It really does break my heart that people think they need to come to an Easter service. That it’s necessary for their life. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an awesome place to be on a Sunday morning. But I pray that their eyes be opened!

The absolute MIRACLE of the resurrection. Without the resurrection we have no hope, no bible, no life, no love, no Savior. The bible is false if not for the resurrection. Christ is risen from the dead. Rejoice! Man. Hallelujah! That’s my King.  (<<PLEASE watch that video.)

Just like Christmas, though I admit, I buy into the “magic” of Christmas, Easter has turned into this commercialized… thing. It’s all about eggs, bunnies, and pastels. Where, BTW, did that tradition come from?! Though with this holiday, Jesus isn’t mentioned as much as He is at Christmas. What the what? Without this holiday Christians would have no hope. NO. HOPE.

Needless to say there are a lot of mixed emotions going on right now. So ready for the deliverance!

Happy Easter! Rejoice. We have a Savior. We have hope.

It’s Easter

- Melody

I’ve thought and wrestled all weekend about what I should say on this blog about Easter. Honestly, this post could go on for days if I wrote all I was feeling. So I’ll just hit you with the highlights.

After an incredible (that’s an understatement) church service I couldn’t help but think about all those people that were there. Let me clarify. Why is it that so many people come out of the woodwork only for Easter? What is it about this day that people feel compelled to attend a church service? Not even that many come out to a Christmas service. Is it because they bought a new dress at Dillard’s and need somewhere to wear it? Isn’t that why companies sell those dresses to begin with? Just so you can spend a wad of money to wear it to a church you’ll probably never go to again until next Easter? I hope I’m not sounding cynical. But think about it. What do those hundreds of people do every other Sunday? Why do they only come on Easter? If we’re being really real here, they probably won’t retain that message. I do pray that the Holy Spirit would open their eyes to the miracle that is the resurrection. It really does break my heart that people think they need to come to an Easter service. That it’s necessary for their life. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an awesome place to be on a Sunday morning. But I pray that their eyes be opened!

The absolute MIRACLE of the resurrection. Without the resurrection we have no hope, no bible, no life, no love, no Savior. The bible is false if not for the resurrection. Christ is risen from the dead. Rejoice! Man. Hallelujah! That’s my King.  (<<PLEASE watch that video.)

Just like Christmas, though I admit, I buy into the “magic” of Christmas, Easter has turned into this commercialized… thing. It’s all about eggs, bunnies, and pastels. Where, BTW, did that tradition come from?! Though with this holiday, Jesus isn’t mentioned as much as He is at Christmas. What the what? Without this holiday Christians would have no hope. NO. HOPE.

Needless to say there are a lot of mixed emotions going on right now. So ready for the deliverance!

Happy Easter! Rejoice. We have a Savior. We have hope.

He is Risen! He is Risen, indeed.

- Melody 1 Comment

Happy Easter all!

I love my church because:
We are a huge family.
Our pastor is fulfilling his amazing calling to lead us.
Our music minister is so incredibly gifted by God.
God never fails to show His shining, glorious face each service.

For some reason, this Easter seemed fresh and new to me. Like I’d never been to an Easter service at our church before. Maybe it’s because I’m forgetful, or maybe because I experience the same things each year only I’m in a different season of life. I stayed up with mom until about 2.00 am last night while she finished up a cake she had to do and I cleaned up some and washed dishes. The chat time and aloneness was so great to have after having spent ALL day yesterday shopping and being busy. And when I woke up this morning, I was fully rested. (even though I took Nyquil last night and only got 7 hours of sleep!)

Waking up this morning I was full of energy. I’m usually NEVER full of energy on any given morning but something was happening. Excitement was buzzing in the air. Christ rose on this day so many thousands of years ago. This very day is the reason we Christians even believe what we believe: that Christ is our living Savior. He conquered death and won the victory. For ALL of us. If Jesus didn’t truly physically die and come fully back to life (and never die again) then we have NO reason to believe in Him and to follow His word. We have no hope. We should just continue living however we want. But if we believe God’s holy Word to be true, then Jesus did conquer that tomb and He did come back to life only to ascend into the heavens to be seated at the right hand of God’s throne. We have hope. We have a reason to follow God’s holy Word. We have a Savior who LIVES inside of us from the moment we accept Him into our hearts to rule and reign over our lives.

WE HAVE VICTORY.

But there is also a sadness. For those who choose not to accept God’s gift of love and of forgiveness and grace, there isn’t a happy ending.

I’m an avid Tweeter. I follow many celebrities. I follow lots of local people, pastors, worship leaders etc. There is a SIGNIFICANT difference between their tweets. It’s odd. Though some of these celebrities went to church, they claim no attachment to any of it. They probably don’t know why Christians celebrate this day. (I didn’t for a long time!) Yes, they gather their families with love and spend precious time together and that’s great! But there isn’t true meaning in that. Families are truly a gift from God, but shouldn’t we raise them to know the true Creator and the One that created these families? Shouldn’t we say goodbye to the silly tradition of hunting eggs and passing out candy and truly celebrate the glorious splendor this day is?

Maybe it’s the pessimist in me, but I am saddened reading those tweets. How can a person only gather with other believers once or twice a year on the most significant days of Christian beliefs and not believe themselves?

What do you think? Am I being too harsh? Am I right? Wrong? Let me know your thoughts.

ps. my favorite song quote of the morning.. “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future and life is worth the living just because He lives.” 🙂

Melody