PICTURES!
I downloaded pictures for the world to see of my time here in South Africa, enjoy them because I am not doing it again until I come home!
melodysafricanpics.shutterfly.com
miss and LOVE you all!
melody
The Last Post...
Okay so this isn't the last last post... but for five months I will be distant from the blogging world so I shall miss you all incredibly, to all the birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, (etc)... I say happy birthday, way to go, and congratulations (etc!) I hope to have a billion comments when I come back, and who knows maybe I will be able to catch you up a little while I am gone. For those of you who really, really love me =), here is my address while I am over there:
Melody Welton
C/O International School University of KwaZulu-Natal
Room 412 Rick Turner Students' Union Building
Howard College
Durban 4041
SOUTH AFRICA
Make sure you have it marked air mail or it will take three months to get to me by boat!!!
I am going to leave you all with a passage from this book that Jonathan Kraft gave me last year at the beginning of my G.A.P. Team experience. It's called Grace For the Moment... it is by Max Lucado and this book is amazing, thanks Jonathan!
I CHOOSE LOVE...
No occasion justifies hatred;
no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love.
Today I will love God and what God loves.
I CHOOSE JOY...
I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance.
I will refuse the temptation to be cynical...
the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see
people as anything less than human beings,
created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as
anything less than an opportunity to see God.
I CHOOSE PEACE...
I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.
I CHOOSE PATIENCE...
I will overlook the inconveniences of the world.
Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I'll
invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the
wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment
to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new
assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.
I CHOOSE KINDNESS...
I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone.
Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind,
for such is how God has treated me.
I CHOOSE GOODNESS...
I will go without a dollar
before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked
before I will boast. I will confess before I will
accuse. I choose goodness.
I CHOOSE FAITHFULNESS...
Today I will keep my promises.
My debtors will not regret their trust. My friends will not question my word.
I will be true to the one who has not yet found me.
I choose faithfulness.
I CHOOSE GENTLENESS...
Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle.
If I raise my voice may it only be in praise.
If I clench my fist, may it only be in prayer.
If I make a demand, may it only be to myself.
I CHOOSE SELF-CONTROL...
I am a spiritual being...
After this body is dead, my spirit will soar.
I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal.
I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy.
I will be impassioned only by my faith.
I will be influenced only by God.
I will be taught only by Christ.
I choose self-control.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and self control.
To these I commit my day.
If I succeed, I will give thanks.
If I fail, I will seek his grace.
And then, when this day is done,
I will place my head on my pillow and rest.
Thank you all for the encouragement and prayers as I make this life changing journey... You all rock my socks off! Until I blog again...
Melody
I am BLESSED!
i just want to start this post off by saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID! i totally forgot my best of any best guy friend a girl could have's birthday on December 30th and i feel so HORRIBLE! but David, our good boy, is now 21! so wish him happy birthday! though it is a little (okay a LOT) belated! I LOVE YOU DAVID=)!
so now that i have tried in a small attempt to correct a huge error of my ways let me just say that I AM SO BLESSED! in two weeks i leave on a trip that will change my life, a trip that is FULLY paid for in scholarships with money to spare, a trip that i wasnt even ELIGIBLE (okay not sure how to spell that...) for but by God's amazing will, slid under the red tape.. He pretty much dropped the next five months into my lap and said "Go for it melody, GO!"
which is exactly what i am doing! but first i have a wedding to get through, which will be beautiful and amazing and exciting! so congrats to AMIE AND KRIS! who will be wed next sat... jan.21, whooo-hooo!
Bring on the New Year!
Okay guys this is flippin SWEET-O! To celebrate the New Year I went down to Indianapolis, Indiana for four days and worshipped with 2500 other college students from the Campus Crusade organizations throughout Indiana, Michigan, Illinios, and Ohio... It was amazing! The whole body grew through the four days we were there and I had the chance to get closer to the people who are in my Campus Crusade for Christ on Western's Campus.
On Friday we hit areas around Indianapolis delivering 'Boxes of Love' and 155 people got saved from that outreach! Not to mention the twenty or so people who had already got save just by coming with their friends to this conference.
On New Year's Eve there is always a theme party and everyone dresses up, the theme this year was "thru the decades" so my friends and I hit the salvation army and founded the diegest stuff ever! I had a huge purple eighties dress and I looked totally ridiculous, it was so fun! And to ring in the New Years the whole conference started praying at 11:20, stopped 45 seconds before midnight and then after we did the countdown we worshiped for another hour and a half, it was the best new year's celebration I have ever been too!
But the sweetest part is what happened on the way home, the car i rode with decided to leave that night right after the new year's party because one of the girls had to work at 12:30 the next afternoon and instead of sleeping for three hours and then waking up we went for the four and half hour drive at 2:30, it was insane! But to keep us awake I had the best conversation with two of my good friends Stef and Joe (Joe was driving) and it was all about the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues (I am the only person that I know of who speaks in tongues at Campus Crusade at Western) the next day (actually the same day only later!) Stef got baptized in the Holy Spirit and after she dropped me off she was speaking in tongues the whole way home! ISNT THAT THE BEST WAY TO RING IN THE NEW YEAR? it was totally amazing!
and now alls i have to say is, 23 more days until AFRICA!
For those of you who dont know me...
Yeah that's right this one is for you! For those who have never met me and so therefore obviously do not know me very well... Let me start from the beginning... My name is Melody Joy, beautiful isnt it? And I am saying that in a way where I am so proud of the name my parents gave me, because so often we become our names! And I have become mine! One meaning for the name melody is "created to express' (thanks to kassie, I learned that last year- among oh whole lot of other things!) and that is exactly what I do! I express myself, sometimes a little more than others, most of the time a lot!
These blogs are interesting, I feel as if I can write whatever I want on them and I am invincible... But right now I guess I am making myself more vulnerable than anything... I have had the worst and the best three months of my entire life this past season... my heart was broken and the same person has continued to hurt me in so many ways, I wonder if it will ever stop! But this is the thing...
Because of this I have grown SO MUCH in my relationship with God and I have gained SO MUCH joy! He has taught me more things than I could ever have imagined knowing, and the more I find out I realize that I really dont know anything at all! God has my heart and he has restored it and made it stronger... but he has also showed me that it is okay to say when you are hurt and hurting, which I was scared to admit. I thought if I said that it would show people that I wasn't completely relying on God for my strength... but when I was praying about it he showed me that it was okay, that it was a major part of my healing process. So yes, I am hurt. But God is always good always faithful and always with me! He is my strength and I am SO STRONG! I am happy, vibrant, healthy, powerful, I am just an amazing woman of God! Because he made me to be like him, and he is perfect!
All my love to those who do not know me (one person in particular) and now I hope that you do.. at least a little bit more. oh, I love you who do know me as well ;)
The Laugh Is Back!
Last night... I laughed! I really, truly laughed!I guess I just didn't realize what was missing until I fully had it back... I don't even want to say how long it has been since I have really, truly laughed. A laugh of joy and fun, living life with God's people and sharpening each other, not just with scripture, but with friendship too. Never let satan steal your joy, God is bigger than any circumstance... I just learned it the really long way. But I learned it! And guess what? Yesterday I ate too, I mean I ate a lot! And I got full and I didn't feel sick and it was AMAZING! I love food so much!
Okay so I saw the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe last night (I have always LOVED C.S. Lewis series on Narnia!) and it was INCREDIBLE! LOVED IT! The oldest boy Peter (who is sadly still way too young for me) is the most gorgeous kid ever...sigh... No but seriously they did such a good job with all of the animation and all that jazz, it was good and I recommend it!
So let the countdown begin... 5 days until christmas, 31 days until Amie's wedding, and 37 days until AFRICA!! EEK!
Home for the Holidays!
helllooooo everyone! Its so weird being back home at my parents knowing that I am not going back to school! At least not Western Michigan Univeristy, okay I will go back eventually! But I WILL NEVER LIVE IN THE DORMS AGAIN, WWAAAHHOOOOO! Thats what I have to say about that!
So now its the whirl wind of christmas shopping and wedding planning and paperwork for South Africa! The countdown is 47 days people! FORTY SEVEN! I cant even believe it! And our wonderful apostle Keri Jones is hooking me up with a church right in Durban! HOW EXCITING! speaking of church, I think its time to share some revelation!!!
I had this amazing conversation with a good and very wise friend of mine last weekend (which by the way was the Ministries Without Borders conference and it was AMAZING and now I want to go to the Phillipines! But I have to finish my education first people, orders of Mr.Jones) and it is definitely one that needs to be shared...
We were talking about all the things God gives us in life, and the things he sometimes takes away. We realized that sometimes God blesses us and gives us things for a seasons, but us being our human selves tend to grasp onto that something for dear life and not want to let it go... when what we really should do is be at a state of constant openness... Always lifting up our hands to our Lord and keeping them OPEN (thats the key) for him to
give and take away as he pleases... and usually when he takes something away its to give us somethings A BILLION TIMES BETTER! So I pray that I will learn to always keep my hands lifted to my Savior, and opened...
Are your hands open?
Seriously, sometimes its a good questions to ask ourselves!! I love you guys!
Oh and p.s. to Cathie, yes Jamo is definitely a friend of Caleb's... at least they know each other! =)
and Jamo, don't worry I know I will always be your favorite ;)
