Fabulous

that is the word to describe today - FABULOUS! i am so happy that SPRING is here, not summer yet!! the week with high 80 degrees temperature was going to be hard to take, but we're sitting in the 70s (at least when i see daylight that's the temp) and it is awesome! i decided i'd like to go to refuge tonight b/c it may be the last one of the semester (or close) and so i got up early this morning to exercise. my plan was to just walk/run what i could while i listened to a mars hill sermon and it was great. the sermon was SOOOO what i needed to hear.

Mark Driscoll spoke on Ecclesiastes 6 - talking about contentment and enjoyment.. the thing he said was that if we dont enjoy what we've already been given, the likelihood of being given something else and actually enjoying that was very small - ie if we dont enjoy where we live now, getting a bigger house would not automatically mean we'd enjoy where we lived - if we don't enjoy our job, getting a new job wouldnt automatically be more enjoyable, etc. and interestingly, he said we dont innately have the ability to enjoy the things we've been given, but rather that it is not only God that gives us everything in life to enjoy, but it is also God that gives us the ability to enjoy them. and if we're not enjoying what we have been given - reality is probably that there's something wrong with us - not the things we're given.
and so my prayer has become what he suggested "God, please change me before you change my life circumstances."

i'm not sure how to continually be reminded of all that as the day goes on - i'm apparently really good at forgetting key stuff like God is good and He is with me, even here in my little cubicle", but as much as i can remember i'll just keep asking to be reminded and to be given the ability to enjoy what I've been given.

on a side note - scripture to ponder: 1 Samuel 25 - it's got me stumped today so you feel free to share your thoughts!!

for the praise of His glory,
Melissa (or Rau or Raudy...whatever you know me as!)

crowder in dayton ohio!!!

yeah... basically. i'm excited. i've just learned that the david crowder band is going to be playing in none other than DAYTON OHIO on june 17th which is like 2 months away. it is free. it is a saturday which means i indeed will be driving up saturday morning, going beyond crazy saturday nite, and going to APEX sunday morning (what could be better) and then driving back to nashville. frankly, it is a fantastic weekend to look forward to!

for the praise of His glory,
melissa

the mission

so, today was a good day. work was incredibly slow and unproductive, but i didnt have as horrible an attitude while it was slow and unproductive so that was good. but really what was good about today was that during the day, i got to go down to the nashville rescue mission. i had a meeting set up with cliff tredway (sp?) and he gave me the whole tour and explanation of everything that goes on at the mission. it was really neat just hearing about what's going on there.. and i think cliff said it best when he said 'if jesus were to drop back by the earth, i think he'd be more likely to come to the mission than any church around here'. God is at work at the mission and it draws me there. i can't wait to get involved, doing whatever i can do to help, bring a smile, and maybe some homemade cookies to some men and women who could use a smile! as i was driving home i was just thinking about a few things and well, since i dont really have anyone to share the thoughts with, i'm just going to put them out here and well, if anyone actually reads them then cool, and if not, that's nothing out of the ordinary.

thought 1:
some people have a deep ache inside because they desperately need God's love. other people have a deep ache inside because they desperately need to share God's love. i realized that there are times where i feel down and frustrated and lonely in a sense, but it's not because i'm not loved - it's because i'm filled to the brim and have a lot of love to offer others!

thought 2:
there are not many times in life that i feel beautiful. i dont look in the mirror and see a pretty girl, or think that i look nice when i dress up (i do severely lack any fashion sense). but recently, there have been a few times where i've been interacting with people and i just get this sense that they like me and in some way are drawn to me... but what's been cool is that it hasnt been a sense of them likely me because of me, but it's only because of Jesus in me! and that thought... oh man... it makes my heart flutter. to think that anyone just might be drawn to me because it's Jesus - i feel beautiful. there's no other way to put it, but it just makes me feel BEAUTIFUL!!! and i thought, dang, there is nothing better - no guy telling me he thinks i'm pretty could ever be better than someone being loved and encouraged by Jesus in me. wow...

thought 3:
as i was driving back to work from the mission, i was just thinking about the men that i had seen, and i just kept thinking hope and what i could do to be a part there, what could i bring. and i thought, i know it's silly, but i LOVE to make cookies. i love to make cookies for other people. and so i just started wondering if there was a way that i could make cookies for the guys that are in the program at the mission. people just seem to feel special when someone brings them homemade cookies - with them in mind! so i'd like to look into that! and the other thing i just kept thinking was organizing some sort of talent show with the guys in the program.. but i just got a vision of it in my mind... there was a song on the radio by audio adrenaline (called "starting over") and it has this line that says "look at your face, it doesn't shine the way it used to".. and when i first hear that, i immediately think of the joy being missing from someone's face - that they dont have the joyous glow that they used to. but as i was driving today - i pictured just the opposite. for these guys that are going through the program at the mission, who are really pushing and trying to get back on their feet - i see their faces shining in a new way - now WITH joy, not like they used to - without hope. it's just a picture that i love. it makes me so excited to get involved.

so... i guess those were all my thoughts. it's been nice thinking about them again. thanks for letting me share them.

"In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory." ~Ephesians 1:13-14

for the praise of His glory,
rau