Complete in Thee: Update on Life

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Update on Life

I continue to be very neglectful of my poor blog here. I'm not even sure what to write about, presently, so I'll just give a quick update on life.

Most of you know, my buddy and older sister, Amanda, is getting married in June (WOOOHOOOOO!!!) and I have been commissioned to make three out of the five bridesmaid dresses. They are made of cornflower blue satin, using McCalls 4491 (views B and C). I am half-way through the first one (Bethany's) and having a blast. Amanda and Alex have been busy planning, and bridal showers are right around the corner. It's so wierd--but totally exciting!! :-D

I'm in the process of purchasing a new "model" for my Etsy shop.... Miss Esther Elizabeth, named after Esther Moore, one of the heroines in MD (and sequels). Unfortunately, with all the wedding sewing I have to do, I don't have time to work on any new doll outfits for the shop right now. I do have lots in the planning, though. ;-)

Speaking of MD, I've been slowly working on editing it, but more importantly, I've been figuring out the details for the two other books in the trilogy. In my searching to know my character's better, I found out an astonishing truth: that... well, somebody I thought was dead (can't say who ;-) ), actually isn't dead, and has been popping up throughout the story already, under a pseudonym, and I didn't even know it was...well, who it is ;-) . So that's been exciting. I also figured out, with the help of my writing buddy/editor Emily, more piratey names for the two main pirate villains and their ships. This has been helping me get a better understanding of their personalities, which is very helpful (obviously ;-) ). Earlier this week I was able to get together with my writing buddies, Emily, Matthew, and Mark, and get in an awesome writers chat... they were able to give some great ideas for MD and sequels, and it was just fun talking my stories and hearing about theirs. Writers chats are the best. ;-)

Last week my mom and I went to the mall and I got my hair cut and styled. I'm really excited.... I like it a lot. It feels much more grown-up. It also looks a bit like Rapunzel's at the end of Tangled when I blow-dry and flat-iron it the right way.. ;-) (I'm working on it. ;-) )

This next week I'll be going out of town to stay for a week or two with my friend Megan, who just had her first baby and needs help around the house and such. I'm very excited about that! It'll be a whole new experience for me. Please pray that I will be a help, not an in-the-way guest, and that I can help lighten her load as she and her husband take on this new adventure in their lives. :-)

I haven't been keeping to a "Bible-reading schedule" lately... it's been in my mind lately that I too often look at the Bible as an assignment, at reading it as something I "ought to do", rather than taking joy in drinking in its words-- however much I need for the moment-- and dwelling on it and seeing Jesus in its pages, and through Him, the Father. So instead lately I've been taking my Bible reading in little bits and purposefully looking for Jesus in what I read: what is He like, what did He do, what does this mean for me? Because Jesus represents the Father and is one with the Father, what does His life and ways tell me about the Father? I'm reading in John presently, but have always been parked in Romans 8 and Isaiah 40, chapters that speak specifically to needs in my heart right now.

And in case you are wondering, India is still much in my mind and on my heart, and I am praying about visiting a Christian children's home there...eventually (not sure when, especially with all the busyness going on right now). Until then, I'm planning to set aside 20% of each of my Etsy sales for the children's home (though I haven't been getting any sales lately, so, I'm not sure if that means anything or not right now! :-P ) But yes....please keep praying that I would know God's will concerning me and work in India: part time, full time, at all? Present there, or ministering from here? And when, how, where? Please pray that God would show me His will in His time and that I would follow it.

Okay, so, that's what's going on! Do you feel updated? :-) I really don't know how much I'll be posting in the near future... it will probably continue to be very sporadic. But please do comment. I love comments. I am still here, just not always posting. :-)

*waves* :-D
~Melanie

4 comments:

Patrizia said...: WOW! Lots of neat stiffu, Melanie! Im so very happy for all of you! You are an excellent seamstress & Im sure the gowns will be lovely. Cant wait for photos!!!!

Ill be praying about India for you also. Neat! So much going on!

As soon as our craziness is done here with the girls going out of town, we will have you for a visit. I know you are busy with the wedding and all. All in Gods timing, yes?????; May 7, 2011 at 11:57 PM
Anonymous said...: So exciting! My best friend just recently got married and is moving to NC! I'll miss her, but she'll keep in contact with blogger and email, so yeah :)
I love reading your blogs!

~pennediniron.blogspot.com~
~knit-to-fit.blogspot.com~; May 8, 2011 at 10:19 AM
teri said...: Melanie -I love the haircut - it really shows off your eyes :-)
It was great to visit with you when you were over!; May 10, 2011 at 4:04 PM
Teddy said...: Good to hear from you!; May 10, 2011 at 10:52 PM

PRAYER REQUESTS

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" (Ephesians 6:18)

PLEASE PRAY...

* That I would draw nearer to God every day and never allow my relationship to become stagnant ritual; particularly that I would grow in the area of submission, patience, 1 Corinthians 13 love, and wholehearted devotion

* That I might have wisdom as I edit "The Marquis' Daughter"; that the Lord would bless and work through it; and that I might find just the right publisher for it.

* That I would submit to the Lord's work in my life, whatever it may be; that I would take each opportunity He brings me (even the seemingly hard ones) to draw closer to Him and point others to Him

*That our Etsy shop might be successful and that it would be a means by which we can glorify God and share the Gospel

Ephesians 2:1-10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

"The heart set to do the Father's will need never fear defeat. His promises of guidance may be fully counted upon. Does it make sense to believe that the Shepherd would care less about getting His sheep where He wants them to go than they care about getting there?"

"God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to."

"If God, like a father, denies us what we want now it is in order to give us some far better thing later on. The will of God, we can rest assured, is invariably a better thing."

"Obedience to God's will is the secret of spiritual knowledge and insight. It is not willingness to know, but willingness to DO (obey) God's will that brings certainty."

"Victory over all the circumstances of life comes not by might, nor by power, but by a practical confidence in God and by allowing His Spirit to dwell in our hearts and control our actions and emotions. Learn in the days of ease and comfort, to think in terms of the prayer that follows, so that when the days of hardship come you will be fully prepared and equipped to meet them."

"And shall I pray, Oh, change Thy will, my Father,
Until it be according unto mine?
Ah no, Lord, no, that never could be, rather
I pray Thee, Blend my human will with Thine."

"A crucified life cannot be self-assertive. It cannot protect itself. It cannot be startled into resentful words. The cup that is full of sweet water cannot spill bitter-tasting drops, however sharply it is knocked."

"And as we rest our hearts upon what we know (the certainty of the ultimate triumph of good), leaving what we do not know to the Love that has led us all our life long, the peace of God enters into us and abides. And then we see our light."

[A Practicing Christian]...it means that every single act and feeling, every experience, whether pleasant or unpleasant, must be referred to God. It means looking at everything as something that comes from Him, and always looking to Him and asking His will first, and saying, "How would he wish me to deal with this?"

Christ says: "Give me all. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work. I want you."

"I was not born to be free. I was born to adore and to obey."

"What is saving but taking us out of the dark into the light? There is no salvation but to know God and grow like Him."

"I will not try to convince you of anything about God. I cannot. You must know Him. I only tell you I believe in Him with all my heart. You must ask Him to explain Himself to you, and not take it for granted that He has done you a wrong because He has done what you do not like. Whether you seek Him or not, He will do you justice. But He cannot explain Himself unless you seek Him."

"Sometimes a thunderbolt will shoot from a clear sky; and sometimes into the life of a peaceful individual, without warning of gathered storm, something terrible will fall. And from that moment everything is changed. That life is no more what it was. Better it ought to be, worse it may be. The result depends on the life itself and it's response to the invading storm of trouble. Forever after, it's spiritual weather is altered. But for the one who believes in God, such rending and frightful catastrophies never come but where they are turned around for good in his own life and in other lives he touches."