Life Lately

My Day

- Melody 2 Comments

Here are a few pictures representing what my day was like today…

Went to CVS today and held onto Revlon’s Orange Flip lipstick for a long time and then I stumbled upon the brand NYC! I own nearly all of their nail polish colors and decided to see if they had lipstick. Bought this red beauty for $.99! Still pining for the Orange Flip though..

This makes laundry  a little less painful..

Roasted these tomatoes and melted crumbled goat cheese on top and had some grilled chicken with it. So good!

Mom and Pops got me these (and some other DELICIOUS dark chocolates) for Valentine’s day. They’re dark chocolate!

What was your day like?

Countdown to Change

- Melody 1 Comment

Of course you know, this is my first blog in a long time. It’s been purposeful and accidental. Purposeful because I’ve had nothing to blog about. Nothing that was necessary to post, anyway. Accidental because I’m 8 days away from becoming Mrs. Rich. But, I figured, it was about time.

Two years ago if you’d have told me I’d be getting married, I’m not sure I’d have believed you. My life looked a lot different. I was in a horrible relationship with someone who didn’t know me, didn’t respect me, and didn’t love me for me. When I saw Jason across the church visiting, something in my heart told me he was the one I would marry. I’d never met him, never seen him. I had no idea who he was. It wasn’t until several months later that I’d meet Jason Dale Rich at Brother Bruce’s “Round Table” bible study. Shamelessly, I’d hope and hope he’d show up every Monday at 8 to the bible study. When he didn’t, my heart sank a little. Every time I heard that screen door creak open my heart leapt with joy. Three or four months after I smartened up and split that relationship I mentioned earlier, Jason innocently asked me to go with him to a concert his brother was performing in. I was heartbroken when I realized I couldn’t go. I thought he’d never ask me to anything again! But when he politely understood, I was ecstatic. A few weeks later he asked me out for burgers and a movie. That night he kissed me. The next day when I told my parents I knew I was going to marry him, they couldn’t hide their sheepish grins. They knew, and I knew. And I was happy. I later found out that Jason knew that night too.

Fast-forward through movies, dinners, family outings, shopping trips, and Dallas rendezvous. On October 3, 2009 Jason had gathered all of our families and got down on one knee and handed me the most gorgeous ring I’ve ever seen and asked me to marry him. And more than a year later, here we are. Eight days away from changing our lives. From becoming one flesh for the rest of our lives.

Wednesday night we had mandatory pre-marital counseling with our family minister and financial minister. They were encouraged by our love for each other and we were encouraged by their wisdom and their willingness to pour it into our blossoming lives.

God created marriage. Man did not invent this. It’s a covenant before God. Too often humans make the mistake of twisting and making marriage what they want it. The divorce rate is high. (When is it not?) When things get hard, sometimes people give up. And to be honest, Jason and I are scared and intimidated. But we’re also excited as heck to start this new and EXCITING chapter in our lives! I become his and he becomes mine. Forever.

God uses marriage as is crucible. He burns out the impurities in the one by making them one. In our dating life, Jason and I have already experienced this. We’ve learned how to argue and fight. For the first time, for both of us, we can argue with our partner and come out better for it. We learn how to communicate better by learning what to do and not to do in a fight. We believe that’s God working in our relationship to better our lives and make us holier by glorifying God.

These next 8 days will be anxiety filled, task oriented, and full of love basking. If we could ask all of you to be praying for us. Pray for our day to run smoothly, for God’s will to be accomplished on that day, and in our new life together. Pray for safe travels for family and for us on our honeymoon to Colorado. Pray.

Thank you, and we love all of you!

Melody (and Jason).

Victory

- Melody

Yesterday was my first day of my sophomore year of college. I hadn’t thought about the semester approaching at all because I’d been wrapped up in wedding plans all summer and having as much Jason-time as I possibly could before our schedules both got turned upside down. Surprisingly, I didn’t have any homework last night, but as with most first days comes a barrage of paperwork, books to buy and things to turn in. Though, I was extremely thankful to have all the same teachers and the encouraging friends to come back to!
SIDE NOTE: People may bash Kilgore College and make fun of it for being like “the 13th grade”, but as a music major, nothing about my classes is easy. It’s an INCREDIBLE school. (I’m speaking for the music department, mostly, but all of my professors-save one-have been incredible supporters of me and my education thus far!) Also, it’s cheap. And I mean cheap. END SIDE NOTE.

So, I already have a lengthy to-do list going by the time I got to work. I had spent my vacant 3 hours between school and work to clean house, hit the bookstore (which was a failure), have some lunch and enjoy what little downtime I had. When I eventually arrived to work I was just feeling overwhelmed, tired, sweaty and busy like my brain had no room to think about things I had to do right then. Thoughts of money, books, wedding and home were flitting around in there like nobody’s business. When I finally made myself relax what little I could I started to do some work. Walking around I noticed this song playing in my head:

For this purpose Christ was revealed:
To destroy all the works of the Evil One.
Satan has no authority here!
Powers of darkness must flee!
For CHRIST has the victory!

Over sin He has conquered Hallelujah! He has conquered!
Over death? VICTORIOUS! Hallelujah! Victorious!
Over sickness He has triumphed! Hallelujah! He has triumphed!

Jesus reigns over all!
Jesus reigns over all!

When I finally took a second to process those words and sink my teeth into them, so many things became clear to me.

1) Christ came here to conquer to destroy Satan. That was his purpose for God revealing Him to us.

2) Satan no longer has ANY authority here! He MUST flee because Christ has the victory! (I can barely type those words without standing and shouting in this tiny coffee shop! HALLELUJAH!!!)

3) Over sin, death, and sickness our Christ has conquered. And you know what?

4) Jesus reigns over all.

For a bit, I didn’t know how this song pertained to my current situation. But when I let that go, I realized, God was telling me, look, Melody. I revealed my Son to come down and defeat Satan for you. He no longer has a hold of your precious heart and soul. You’ve surrendered unto me and I have defeated those things in your life. Sickness, death, and sin no longer have that strong hold on you. I reign over all! So let your busy-ness subside because I reign over you. You no longer have to hold on to that.

And why would I?! Why would I hold on to those things that pull me under so deeply and suffocate me in their wake when my Jesus has defeated those things FOR GOOD!?

Even now, writing this blog, more and more is being revealed to me but so much is left uncovered. Throughout this summer, I’ve let God seriously and unashamedly, fall not only to the wayside, but off to the waaaaaaaaaayside. Like not even in the same zip code. Seriously. And those consequences have been so deadly and so severe I’ve honestly wondered what was happening to my consciousness. Was I going crazy? What was happening in my head? What IS happening in my head? My habits, my train of thought, my words, my everything were drastically changed. Not by my choosing, necessarily, but because I had let the Evil One come in and use my weaknesses to his advantage. He twisted the things I thought and made things seem worse than they were. Made my normal first day of school seem like the world was coming to an end. Made my to-do list seem like a mountain of tasks I could never accomplish, when in actuality, most of the things took care of themselves in a matter of a couple of days!

Jesus, I know, had been trying to reach me through song, radio, teaching, and friendship, but I didn’t listen. For the first time in my life I thought of God as the popular jock who only hung out with those of his own kind. Only with the ones who were seemingly perfect in all of their ways. I was like the outcast in His world. I didn’t see Him as a loving, caring God. I honestly thought He wouldn’t and didn’t want anything to do with me for my actions and my outright bold rebellion and laziness. But I see, faintly, that He is calling out to me. I mean come on! He put one of the greatest songs of all time in my head (because He knows I LOVE music) to get a hold of me. (Truth be told, I’ve always felt that I connect more sincerely and honestly with God through song. Be it old hymns, current tunes, or random melodies I sing in my heart.)

He loves me, you guys. And He loves you, too.

Yet, just because I write this blog and feel God reaching me, doesn’t mean this battle is over. God loves me, yes. But do I love him? I want Him to be my everything, my go-to guy when I’m ecstatic or wallowing in the valley screaming for someone to help me. Lately, I’ve mentally and emotionally been empty of the strength to say His name in conversation or even prayer. Lying in bed at night I wonder what happened. What day did I decide consciously I’d forget about Him and live life my way? But it wasn’t just one day. It was a string of days turning into weeks turning into the last 4 months turning into today then tomorrow and the next day. I’ve got a lot of questions. I’ve got a lot of heartache and healing to do. BUT, I do know the One who can do it for me.

Blessings,
Mel.

Sackcloth

- Melody 1 Comment

Sackcloth: made of goat hair; typically black; worn in times of mourning in Bible times; UNCOMFORTABLE.

The discomfort of the sackcloth represented your mourning and was a constant reminder of why you were wearing it in the first place. Your sorrow was physical. (Which is a whole other blog in itself!) Outwardly and inwardly. Nowadays, no one wears sackcloth in this country on a regular basis. We do wear black to symbolize our mourning. But what if we never take it off? What if our hearts or minds are clothed in dark sackcloth? I think of a widow alone in her house adorned in black. Her heart is so heavy with sorry she can’t even move. The neighborhood, not understanding, thinks of her as the old crazy lady. If only someone who was full of love and compassion would go to her door and tell her, “Rise up. There is no need to mourn. Delight in the Lord for He is good! He is faithful unto you and will deliver you from your sorrows. The time of mourning is over!” (Ecclesiastes 3:4).

I think of myself. How I just can’t take of my sackcloth. I mourn over everything. Have I forgotten what true joy feels like? I know the mourning is over. So why can’t I move on?

Maybe some of us are covered in mental sackcloth. We are so accustomed to the discomfort we don’t remember what joy feels like. True joy. Maybe someone should say to us, “Rise up. There is no need to mourn. Delight in the Lord for He is good! He is faithful unto you and will deliver you from sorrows. The time of mourning is over!”

Lovely Day

- Melody

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day! Though, yes, it was hot as a mug, it was good.

I woke up early this morning and lounged around for a while watching some Golden Girls and had a breakfast of Cheerios and wheat toast. Yum! Sinfully, I skipped out on my Jillian Michaels time to go stamp shopping with Mom and lil’ Rudy. I came home to find Jason here and he took me to lunch at McAlister’s. It was probably the best lunch I’ve ever had. Not only was the food delicious, but the conversation even more so. It was so nice to just sit and talk and relax together without having to be anywhere or to do anything. I love how we could talk for hours and never get anxious or antsy about being in one place for too long. It was so pretty. We sat near the window as the afternoon light beamed in on our table. We hit up some big thrift stores and had a pleasant afternoon shopping together. And no date day would be complete without a trip to the pet shop to oogle over the puppies!

I hope to have more days like this in the coming months and years. I hope your day was as lovely as mine! If not, never fear. There’s always tomorrow.

Tomorrow, tomorrow…

I Have a Bad Habit of Posting Late at Night

- Melody 1 Comment

Disclaimer: This was supposed to be posted Friday night! 😛

Well, I’ve just realized that I didn’t get around to my workout today. :/ Sorry, Jillian! I’m sort of thankful because Level 2 that I started yesterday was a lot harder than I thought. I was honestly a little nervous going into it! She kicked my butt, but it’s nice. In a you’re-going-to-get-results way. Granted, Jillian Michaels is a little awkward on camera. I’m hoping it was one of her first recorded workout DVDs. Nonetheless it’s still an incredible workout and I can’t wait to see how I’m feeling and looking once these 30 days are up!

On another note, I’ve developed a hobby of cooking. I cooked for Mom’s birthday, the other night I found a recipe on Yahoo and cooked it out of nowhere for the fam, just yesterday I found a 5-minute cake recipe that actually turned out delicious! Now, instead of dreading helping in the kitchen or thinking up a meal of my own, I anticipate it! I enjoy mixing new ingredients together and tasting new cuisines. It’s exhilarating. But my all time favorite thing about cooking is cooking for other people. I can’t wait for them to taste it and I get excited for them to try what I’ve come up with. So much so, that I get aggravated when they don’t immediately come to the table when it’s ready! Mom bought me the church cookbook for Christmas. It’s chock FULL of recipes and I can’t wait to cook every last one of them for me and Jason. 😀