In Need of Something Real

I have found myself in a bit of a funk lately. I would love to tell you all about it, but I haven't quite figured it out myself. I can't "label" it. I'm not sure why I find myself at this place. I'm not sure how to describe it. But in the midst of the "funk" I've yearned for something real, and I CAN describe what I mean by that.

I've yearned for "real". Real stories of God, not in Bible days, but in modern day, and how He's moving in the lives of His people here and NOW. I haven't just yearned for it, I've been desperate for it. I'm not sure why that desire manifested itself, I just know that it has burrowed it's way into my heart.

What I love about God and the way He works is that HE knows what we need, when we need it. I hadn't told anyone about how I was feeling. To be honest, I hadn't even had any long discussions with God about it. But one day this week I was sitting at home watching TV, when I felt a stir in my heart and I said to God, "I need something real Lord."

About that time Denny said, "I want to read you a story from the book I'm reading. I think you'll like it."

To be honest, my first thought was a sarcastic "Great. Denny's gonna read me a story."

Denny came into the family room and sat down and started reading. He hadn't spoken three words before my tears began to flow. I felt God's presence immensely. I got up from my chair, trying to hide my tears, and turned off the TV so I could give HIS story my full attention.

Denny began reading a story to me about a man named Richard Stearns. He was the CEO of Lenox a company that sells China and dinnerware. One day a friend who worked for World Vision was speaking with Richard, and he said something to this effect, "Richard, World Vision is in need of a President, and every time I pray about who it should be, you come to mind." Richard, basically said, "I'm not interested. I'm not the man for that job."

I'm not going to tell you all the details, but in short, the rest of the story was about the incredible way God revealed himself, in the next six months or so of Richard's life, through people and circumstances, until Richard knew that he WAS the man God wanted to lead World Vision.

I was teary eyed through the whole story as Denny read to me the MANY ways God revealed himself in the here and now. A modern day man. A modern day God. And as Denny read, my faith increased.

But it didn't stop there, God continued to give me more stories throughout the week of how HE is showing off in the lives of modern day people....and in doing so He showed Himself greatly in my life by fulfilling my desire for something "real".

I'm so thankful for Jesus. Thankful for the personal relationship that He has invited us to have with Him. Thankful that the relationship is REAL. That He answers when we call to Him. That He met me in the middle of my "funk".

How is it that you need Him today? What "real" thing do you need? May you call on the One who has proven himself faithful for generations.

"Call to me, and I will answer you...." Jeremiah 33:3

(the book Denny read to me from was "The Hole in Our Gospel" by Richard Stearns)

BTW, in case you're wondering, yes, Denny is still a Children's Advocate for Compassion International, but we obviously support all who help those in poverty.

25 New Questions

My friend, Mary, tagged me on Facebook with these 25 questions, so I thought I'd play along and answer them too!

1.1.21. ONE OF YOUR SCARS, HOW DID YOU GET IT? Uh, shaving my legs? Maybe? Not sure. Can’t really think of any scars. Just emotional ones. Ha.

2. DO YOU SNORE, GRIND YOUR TEETH, OR TALK IN YOUR SLEEP? I don’t know, I’m asleep. "Denny?" Denny says “no”.

3. WHAT KIND OF MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO? Primarily Worship Music. My favorite recordings are live worship services. Though I love a variety of styles of music. If I’m not listening to worship music, I’m typically listening to country music. But I'm havin' a hankerin' for some Gladys Knight right now.

4. WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW? “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not be in want” ha.

5. WHAT DO YOU MISS? Knots Landing. Ha. I don’t know, what do I miss? Hmmm…missed stopping at that red light today. Tee hee

6. DO YOU GET CLAUSTROPHOBIC? Yes, actually, I do. And then I go into a panic attack and it’s all downhill after that.

7. THE LAST THING TO MAKE YOU CRY? An e-mail I typed to some friends this week

8. IF YOU COULD EAT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE? McDonalds Fish Fillet

9. FAVORITE COLOR OF ALL TIME? pink

10. SAY A NUMBER FROM ONE TO A HUNDRED: 55

11. FAVORITE QUOTE? Can I put a scripture? “call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things, things that you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3

12. FAVORITE PLACE? Home

13. MET ANYONE FAMOUS? Yep. Spent a couple weekends hangin' out with Jeanne Cooper (Katherine Chancellor from the Young and Restless) I’ve met Barbara, Louise and Irlene Mandrell. Rupert from Survivor. Had a brief conversation with Beth Moore (Bible teacher) one time. Travis Cottrell. Lisa Whelchel (facts of life)…

14. FIRST JOB? First real job? Was a teller at a bank.

15. DO YOU THINK EVERYONE OUT THERE HAS A SOULMATE? Hmmm…don’t know.

16. HAVE YOU EVER HAD SURGERY? no

17. WHAT DO YOU GET COMPLIMENTED ABOUT MOST? Hmmm…don’t know.

18. ARE YOU A JEALOUS PERSON? Not typically, but it sneaks up on me every once in a while, and I have to nip it.

19. WHAT ARE YOUR NICKNAMES? Well since my given name is Melissa, I’d have to say my most popular nickname is Missy. Quite a few relatives call me Missy Jo, My Grandma nicknamed me Greta , friends at work call me “donk” and others call me “Miss-I”.

20. IF YOU HAD A SUPER POWER WHAT WOULD IT BE? I had to ask my 8 year old what he thought. We decided it would be to fly.

21. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW? Since I work at a CBS Affiliate I should name all CBS Shows. Ha. I do like the amazing race (and many other CBS shows). But to be honest, I’m in a season of life that is busy enough that I don’t do “appointment” TV. The only TV show that I ever really watch fairly routinely is Anderson Cooper 360.

22. WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH YOUR ENEMIES? Love them

23. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Don’t really have a favorite ice cream flavor. I do like butterscotch Sundaes.

24. FAVORITE SEASON? Let me just name my least favorite - winter

25. WHAT’S ONE THING YOU’RE WORKING ON? A new CD

Let me know if you play along and answer the questions too. I'd like to read your answers!

Nice to be "Off"

Vacation. I love it.

We've been on vacation since July 2nd, and I have SOOOO enjoyed it. We actually did a "staycation" this year. In January, we made a commitment to ourselves to pay off some debt, so when it came time to plan a vacation, we went back and forth on what to do, and decided to stick with our commitment, and we stayed home. That was just one of the reasons.

Another reason that I looked forward to a "staycation" was I didn't want to think. I didn't want to think about where we were going, how to get there, what we had to take with us etc, etc. Our family has had a really busy life the past 9 months and I felt that we simply needed "down" time.

I started feeling myself slip into the "off" mode about a week or two prior to vacation. For instance, e-mails that I would normally answer, didn't get answered unless they demanded a response. Sorry.

The only thing that I was not looking forward to about staying home was, I didn't want to cook. But God took care of that. On Friday, July 2nd, we had a check in our mail for $400. We figured since the timing of the money came exactly at the timing of the vacation, God was wanting us to have a little extra cash to enjoy extra "vacation" things. So we ate $400 worth of food and gained 300 pounds. ha.

We cleared our schedules of all responsibilities, including worship leading. We commited ourselves to nothing, and only did things we wanted to do. We joked about our house being a condo and our pool being the beach, and we did what we would do if we were at the beach. We swam every day, read books, soaked up some sun, ate out, went to the movies, ate out, went to a theme park, ate out, went shopping, ate out....you get the drift. Now that I think about it, I haven't done my hair since July 3rd. Poor Denny.

Anyway, all that to say, I have thoroughly enjoyed my family. I have thoroughly enjoyed turning "off". Escaping. Resting. Playing. Only doing what we wanted, when we wanted. I pray that if you need rest, that God will grant you rest as well.

Tomorrow....back to real life.

A Lesson From the Ants???

As I arrived home from work yesterday, I was on my cell phone, so instead of going immediately into the house, I stood out in my driveway in order to finish my phone conversation in peace, avoiding the excited barking dog inside my home.

It wasn't long before my eight year old was running up to me freaking out because there were ants in our dining room. A lot of ants in the dining room.

I walked in the house to find an almost perfect line of ants scurrying back and forth from our front door through our dining room and into our kitchen. Yuk. We had bad storms here yesterday, so my guess is that they were taking cover in our home. As gross as it was, it was truly a site to see, so I called each child into look at them!

I looked for some bug spray to get rid of them, but I couldn't find any. Thankfully, not long after, Denny came home and finished up ridding our house of ants.

Leave it to our God to make a "lesson" out of this.

I woke up this morning, opened up my Bible and chuckled as I read this passage of scripture:

"Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and be wise! Even though they have no prince, governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? I want you to learn this lesson: A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest...and poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber." Proverbs 6:6-11 NLT

This doesn't mean that we can't take time for rest. Rest is GOOD. But it is a reminder that hard work is also GOOD. And we shouldn't have to have someone standing over our shoulder telling us to work hard. Take a lesson from the ants. They know that there is work to be done in order to live well.

I enjoyed sharing this passage with each family member as they woke up this morning. And simply because of the timing of it, they all took it well too. :)

This Boy...

This boy wants to write songs with his Mama.

He has been BEGGING me.

We wrote a song together this past summer when Josh was just seven. He had been asking me to write with him, so one evening we finally did it. He was so cute. He wanted to write about God. So I said, "okay, write down what you want to say about God, or to God."

After thinking for a minute, he looked up at me with a somewhat defeated look and said, "I don't know what to say."

I said, "Well, how 'bout that be your first line...'Lord I don't know what to say.'"

He got a big grin on his face and said, "okay!"

And we were off to writing our first song. I was totally AMAZED at how into it he was. He wasn't just concerned about the lyrics, but also about the structure of the song. He would say things like, "I think we need to sing the chorus twice here." I didn't even know he knew what a "verse" or a "chorus" was...but he did.

First we wrote the words, and then we put it to music. Even musically he had an idea of where he wanted the song to go, and I tried my best to honor where he was taking it.

We ended up recording the song, and I was really pleased with how it turned out. The style, to me, sounded very high school musical-ish. Which is quite fitting for his age. If you'd like to hear it I'd be happy to e-mail it to you. Just drop me a line at melissa.milbourn@gmail.com

I tried getting him to sing the whole thing, but he was too shy. So I sang the verses by myself and he joins me on the chorus. I pray that he overcomes his fear because he is an awesome singer. Would you join me in that prayer?

My spring has been really busy, but life should be settling down a little bit over the summer. And I'm really looking forward to writing with Josh and further discovering just how God has gifted him. The only thing I dread is he is very bossy. Ha.