Pink Paper Peppermints Sweet ♥ Crafty ♥ Goodness

more than you ever wanted to know

In honor of my 100th post (which went by many moons ago):

100 Things About Me

1 I love Jesus and have for 25 years. Before that I just didn't know Him, but I would've loved Him if I had.

2 I met my husband thirteen years ago in a christian chat room called "net central" .

3 I feel awkward telling people that.  It sounds so cheesy.

4 I haven't been in a chat room since shortly after we met.

5 I lived in Africa with my family for almost four years when I was in high school.

6 It was absolutely some of the best memories of my life so far.

My brother and me at a church service in Africa.

7 I spent the summer in Italy when I was 16.

8 I had a 110 camera and still cringe when I think of the missed photo opportunities.

9 It was so beautiful though and I hope to go back with my husband someday.

10 I won a coloring contest when I was in elementary school and the prize was that I got to be in the Ringling bro circus. It was pretty cool for a little kid.

11 I don't enjoy the circus now and will probably never take my kids to one.  I think it's mean to the animals. It makes me sad.

12  I used to teach cake decorating and make elaborate cakes. I even owned a cake decorating business for awhile.  You cannot believe the amount of money some moms are willing to spend on a birthday cake.

13  I was a preschool director for a few years.  It was not an easy job, but I loved those kiddos so much.

14 I was an elementary ed major, but if I could go back (when?) I would (will?) be a photography/graphic arts major. Is that a major?

15 I would rather be cold than hot.  If you're cold you can always get warmer.  You can snuggle with someone, put on a jacket, start a fire, wrap up in a warm blanket.  When you're hot you can pretty much just get naked and then you're still hot...and naked...which in itself could be uncomfortable.

16 I graduated from bible school, Christ For the Nations Institute, before I went to college.

17 I feel like I should know more scripture due to number 16

18 I'm also a homeschool graduate (and shockingly I'm not socially stunted or inept at life).

19 My family and I lived in Memphis when I was five and I have been told that my two best friends were the mayor's daughter and Jerry Lee Lewis' daughter. I can't really remember that though.

20 I love a hot chai latte, even homemade with *egad* a mix.  There is something so soothing about a cup of warm spicy tea.

21 The style of decorating that I love and the way my house actually looks in most rooms are worlds apart.

22 Sometimes I get sad about this, but then I just remind myself that it's a process and everyday and every trip to an antique store or flea market brings me a little bit closer to my vision.

23 I am not a mall person.  I really just like being home, but if I'm going to go somewhere the mall is absolutely my last choice.

24 I overuse exclamation points and ellipses (and apparently the words "just" and "so")

25 I am not a grammar fan

26 In spite of what the two above may imply I love the English language and words.

27 I love the color red

28 I love the color pink

29 I really love pink and red together (and sometimes orange and aqua blue)

30 I refuse to pay money to watch a movie with a sad ending (actually I won't watch a sad movie for free either -  ha!).  I mean isn't life sad enough for a lot of real people without me paying to cry about a fake person's fake life??

31 I hate when I misspell a word so badly that the spell check offers me choices that aren't even *close* to the word I was trying to spell.

32  I could eat Mexican food everyday for the rest of my life. Fajitas are my favorite.

33  I love being a stay at home mom, more than I ever dreamed I would

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Stay tuned for part 2.  (or if you are bored beyond belief just come back Monday...heh-heh)

Grace & Peace,

♥ Melissa~

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"You have looked deep into my heart, LORD, and You know all about me. You know when I am resting or when I am working, and from heaven You discover my thoughts."
-Psalm 139:1-2

I used to lie and cheat and step on people's feet

Oh my goodness this is fun:

(the song starts at 59 seconds if you want to fast forward)

Off to the new church!

God's Grace & Peace friends,

♥ Melissa~
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"Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new."
-2 Corinthians 5:17

you say it's your birthday

New banner for Little O's birthday.  It was really, really hard to make because I was *crying* the whole time...*ugh*...

I thought I'd re-run the Little O pregnancy story today for those who haven't heard it.  We are off to do fun birthday things.

You might need some tissue for this.  I'm just sayin'.

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Three of the most agonizing days of my life happened in September of 2002.

O-man and I found out we were pregnant in early August of that year. I was so incredibly happy to be expecting again.

I immediately started picking out sweet little baby outfits and looking through baby name books with hubby. We had to do so clandestinely because we hadn’t told anyone yet, not even Teen-O (who was then pre-teen-O). It was such a special time, I loved that we had this little secret treasure just between us.

Six weeks later we made the announcement to family and friends and had scheduled our first appointment with the doctor.

We arrived at the office early Monday morning on September 23^rd. We were thrilled to find out that she would be doing a sonogram.

Human fetus at six weeks after conception.

While I knew not to expect more than a tiny blip on the screen, it still meant seeing the reality of the little life we’d already fallen head over heels in love with and just the thought of it gave me butterflies.

I remember lying on the table, hubby holding my hand and smiling down at me, the doctor adjusting the machine and making small talk…

And then the tone of her voice changed slightly, and she began to ask more pointed questions about how I had been feeling.

and then she was just quiet…studying the monitor…

and then she stopped,

and reached over

and turned the monitor off

and began to tell us

that we had lost our baby.

I don’t recall her exact words; it was all a blur of emotion…first absolute denial…

I told her she was wrong,

I had taken three pregnancy tests

I was having morning sickness

and every other symptom that comes with early pregnancy.

As I was explaining all this she reached into a drawer and pulled out a black & white pamphlet that had been photocopied so many times the text was starting to disintegrate. There was a sad couple on the front and a title that included the word “miscarriage”.

I felt my face get flush, hot tears stung my eyes and I heard the doctor’s voice as if she was at the end of a long tunnel…

telling me the symptoms were most likely from residual hormones

telling me it wasn’t my fault,

these things happen,

we could try again right away…

There are really no words to describe the next three days. The anguish of beginning to call friends and family to tell them we’d lost the baby. The devastation of packing away the tiny outfits we’d already purchased and the baby name books I’d circled names in. The grief and sorrow of losing someone we loved with all our hearts though we’d never even met.

On Wednesday morning the nurse called and said she wanted me to go to the hospital immediately. Based on some lab results they had reason to be concerned that instead of a miscarriage I may have had an Ectopic pregnancy. This is when the fertilized egg settles in the fallopian tube. There is no chance of survival for the baby in this situation and the possibility of hemorrhaging and death for the mother.

We arrived at the hospital, pre-teen O in tow and began filling out mountains of paperwork as we waited for the next available sonogram technician to call me in.

While we were waiting we received a phone call from a local florist letting us know that they had a flower delivery and asking when a convenient delivery time would be. My boss had sent a sympathy bouquet.

Finally my name was called. We had decided that since our little boy was with us, hubby would stay in the waiting room with him.

O-man squeezed my hand and gave me a sad but reassuring smile and I walked into the back room ready to hear the worst.

I lay on the table staring up at the ceiling while the technician began adjusting knobs and asking me questions. I was biting my tongue to try to keep myself from crying and wishing that my husband was in the room with me when suddenly she said,

“Ok, everything looks good here, your baby is about….

After the word baby I didn’t hear much. I think she was telling me how many centimeters he was or something…all I could hear was my heart pounding in my chest.

And then I began to sob, loud, guttural, elated sobbing…and somehow between the sobs I managed to say, “the baby?…there’s a baby?” and freaked the poor technician completely out.

She started saying, “Are you ok? I’m so sorry; I thought you knew you were pregnant. I’m so sorry.”

It took a few minutes for us both to calm down and me to explain the story to her, that I thought I’d lost my baby and that she had just told me the most wonderful, amazing news of my life.

She turned the screen toward me and let me see that glorious little blip.

Then we were both laughing and crying and she said, “Oh I should go get your husband and son!” She brought them in and slipped out of the room quietly while I told them the miraculous news.

I will never forget that moment, telling them I had seen the little blip we had so desperately wanted to see a few days earlier…crying and laughing and crying again.

Before we left the hospital, that sweet, sweet technician came back into the room and gave me what looked like a small x-ray. It was a copy of the sonogram.

They had run out of the paper that it was normally printed on, but she wanted me to have it so she printed it on x-ray film.

Here it is:

 

We found out that apparently no one had informed her why she was doing this sonogram; she wasn’t even looking for an ectopic pregnancy, just a healthy baby, and she found him.

She said given the baby’s position it would have been impossible for the doctor to see him with the equipment she had.

All the way home we were both on the cell phones calling those we had told the bad news that it was good news after all (and being so thankful that we hadn't even told everyone yet).

Shortly after we arrived there was a knock at the door; it was the florist with the bouquet from my boss.

I don’t know why, but that stands out so strongly in my memory. How those flowers were sent from sorrow, but arrived in joy.

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So that’s my pregnancy story with LittleO.

I’m sitting here crying again as I type this (even though this is the second posting of this story), just so thankful to the Lord for getting us through that. He is so faithful.

The rest of the pregnancy went pretty normally (if you don’t count Little O deciding to come a month early!).

And now my little blip is FIVE years old and learning to read and explaining to me exactly how legos work and talking and talking and talking and talking (he talks *a lot*).

And I love every minute of it.

♥ M~
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"No one's ever seen or heard anything like this, never so much as imagined anything quite like it— what God has arranged for those who love Him."
-1 Corinthians 2:9,10

He's Alive

"And every fear I'd ever had just melted into peace..."
                                                -He's Alive, Don Francisco


A powerful Easter video...be prepared to cry tears of joy...

                                      

Happy Easter Sweet Friends

♥ M~
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"Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in Me, though he may die, yet shall he live."
-John 11:25

the saddest day

(I'm out and about doing Easter-y things with my family.  This is a re-run from last Easter)

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I woke up this morning and the first thing I thought was,

"This must have been the saddest day in history."

The second day.

The day that Peter and John, Mary Magdalene and Mary the Mother of Jesus, woke up and remembered what happened.

That Jesus was dead.

dead.

I just started crying.  I don't know why I've never thought about *this* day before.  The second day.

You know, I've often thought how amazing it must've been to be one of Jesus' disciples.

Imagine, getting to walk next to Him,
Hear His laugh.
Give Him a hug.
Ask Him questions.

And then this morning I realized that they also had to go through this day.  The in-between day. The not knowing day...

...the heartache of thinking that the Man they believed was not only the future King, but God Himself...had been crucified and was laying in a dark, cold tomb.

...fighting the gut-wrenching fear and doubt...

I'm so glad this is just one day in history.

I'm so glad that Jesus didn't stay dead.

That death couldn't keep Him.

That He arose victorious over death, hell and the grave.

I love the relationship that I have with Him now.  Even though I didn't get to hold His hand and walk down the beach with Him while He talked about the love of God for me....

I get to do that everyday now.  Every. day.

I get to experience a *relationship* with GOD.

Because of what He did.

Taking my guilt and shame and washing it away with the blood of His Son.

Redeeming and restoring my relationship with Himself in only the way He could do it.

He did that for you too.

He wants to know you. To laugh with you and listen to your heart and share His with you.

You can have that if you want it.

Just ask Him.

Not that there won't be "second days" in your life anymore.

We still have those.  The days in-between that we don't know what's going to happen and we're afraid.

BUT

when you have that relationship with Him you can call out to Him on the "second days" in your life

and He's there

with comfort

and peace

and grace.

It is an amazing experience to meet God and walk with Him daily.

I hope and pray that every single person that reads this experiences it.

"Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."-John 20:29

"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." -Romans 3:23

"...the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." -Romans 6:23

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." -1 John 1:9

"For Christ also has suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:" -1 Peter 3:18

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if anyone hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me." -Revelation 3:20

Grace and Peace,

♥ M~

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"God didn't set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ.

He died for us, a death that triggered life.

Whether we're awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we're alive with Him!

So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you'll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you're already doing this; just keep on doing it."
-I Thessalonians 5:9 (the message)
 

fedex road rage

True Story:

A guy my husband works with is driving in traffic yesterday.  The lane next to him merges with his because of construction. 

There is a big ol' FedEx truck in the merging lane (whose driver could obviously *see* the lane was ending, but waited until the last minute to try to get in) so the guy (hubby's coworker) speeds up a little to get ahead of the merge so FedEx guy can get in behind him.

Apparently this makes FedEx guy *and his co-FedEx-guy* very angry because at the next light not just driver FedEx guy but *both* of them get out of their truck and come and tap menacingly on coworker guy's window yelling at him "What's your *^#^$*&# problem?".

And you thought they were just speedy package deliverers.

Both FedEx guys had their name badges prominently displayed so coworker guy calls FedEx when he gets to the office to let them know of their delivery driver's...um... side interests.

No word yet on FedEx's response, but somehow the slogan "Relax, it's FedEx" takes on new meaning now, doesn't it?

{ten on tuesday coming later today}

M~
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"A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control."
-Proverbs 29:11