I Know an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly...

Remember that song? Then she swallowed a spider to catch the fly... Well, this afternoon that's what I almost did. Swallow a spider, that is. I have a big plastic mug with a lid THAT DOESN'T CLOSE that I use for water and apparently a spider decided to investigate it and drowned inside. I only know that because when I was getting ready to make dinner I took a drink and felt something weird and non-water-like in my mouth. I spit it out and it was a spider. Then I spit some more. And some more. (Mikaela thought it was quite funny.) At least it appeared to already be dead and it wasn't very big. I don't know what I would have done if it had been big and alive! Yikes! (And yuck!) Now aren't you glad I shared that with you? And can I advise you to check your next lidded beverage for spiders before you take a drink? You might thank me someday. (I wonder how long it will be before I stop checking my drinks for spiders...) So... what else have I been doing other than almost swallowing spiders, you ask? Well, trying to use my time wisely, for one thing, because it seems to be in scarce supply these days. It seems that the famous "supply and demand" principle applies to time, too. Since Timothy joined our family, it seems that I have less free time than I used to. And since I started helping out with worship at church in December, I have even less time. (I have been really leading worship, though. And I enjoy having Timothy around too. : ) Even if he is perfecting the "Mommmeeeeeee" plea.) Well, aside from taking care of my wonderful family and helping at church on Sundays, I have also been preparing for our upcoming 3rd annual Grove Community Church women's retreat! It's coming up February 20-22 (in case any of you want to join us!!!) AND I have the absolute privilege and honor of getting to speak at 3 of the 4 sessions!!! I am extremely excited and hopefully I'll take some time in the coming weeks to share with you what I'm studying and learning in preparation for it. Last year it was an amazing experience to share with the ladies at one of the sessions about God's LOVE and to lead the worship at the retreat, but God began several months ago to start moving me toward volunteering to speak at our retreat this year instead of leading worship again. To be honest, it was scary to volunteer because the ladies were considering someone from another church (with more experience) and a Beth Moore video series and compared to either of them, I felt quite inexperienced (for good reason!) and a bit intimidated. But I also wasn't feeling passionate about leading worship this year and there were a couple of other girls who were and I was feeling quite strongly about wanting to share/speak. So I spoke up and eventually it was decided that I would do it (with another gal speaking at the Sat. evening session.) It's definitely a step of faith (for me and the other women who said I can do it!), but quite appropriate because I'm talking about trusting God and believing we are who HE says we are. I'm actually basing the bulk of what I'm talking about on the book TrueFaced, so at least I'm not completely on my own. And do you want to know something very amazing? Just this week I found a friend on Facebook who I knew in college and haven't talked to since then (=quite a few years ago!) and it turns out she GOES TO THE CHURCH started by and pastored by 2 of the 3 authors of TrueFaced. I am wondering why God has reconnected us at just this time when I'm working on this... because it can't be a coincidence. : ) Well, that's all for the moment. I have so much more I wish I could tell you... like about how God has even been preparing Lowell and Timothy for the weekend I'll be gone. (Lowell takes care of Timo on the mornings when I'm playing+singing at church and Timo has turned into a major "Daddy's Boy!" as a result of it. So amazing! It will be SO MUCH EASIER for me to leave knowing how much they have already connected lately.) I can't wait to tell you more sometime soon... : ) Melissa PS I don't think I mentioned it, but every Jan 1st, I try to ask God what He wants to teach me about that year. This year He wants to teach me about ministry. And He gave me this passage to memorize: "Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." 2 Cor. 3:4-6 As part of a challenge on Beth Moore's blog, I'm memorizing scripture 2x a month. It's nice to have close to 3,500 others doing the same thing (picking our own verses.) I'm hoping to post about it... but no promises! (If only they would all come exercise with me, too!) Anyone else want to join the fun??? Let me know if you decide to!