It’s July 28th, 2013. I stuff the last few items into the back of my car, take a deep breath, and catch one last look at my childhood home in the rearview mirror. I’ve packed my entire life into my little Hyundai Sonata; anything that doesn’t fit has to stay behind. Over the past few…
I've sat down to write this post at least a dozen times in the past few weeks, agonizing over the right words to say… but time and time again, the “right words” have eluded me. For the past month, I have heard the same question over and over again, “How was Haiti?” and each time…
I like to think of myself as a happily introverted person. I've always preferred a quiet night at home to loud and crowded environments, and I've always been a fan of listening more than talking. I've been an avid reader since my childhood, when I discovered a reading program where if you read enough books, you could earn MORE…
I have a serious love/hate relationship with writing; it’s something that I love to do, and something that (for some crazy reason) I feel called to do... the part that I hate is where I press the "publish" button. If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you’ve probably noticed that the things I write…
My name is Melanie, and I am a perfectionist. There have been times in my life where I have worn the badge of perfectionism with pride. It was a sign that I was a motivated, driven, and successful individual, and my self identification as such certainly served me well when it came to school, work,…
This past December I went to Mexico with my Mom and my sisters. We spent a lot of time just laying on the beach and soaking up the sun, watching the waves endlessly roll in and crash on the beach, while brave souls played in the surf. (I'm terrified of the ocean, so I kept…
Have you ever had one of those moments where something causes you to stop and look around, and you wonder how in the world you got there? If you’re like my sister, you can start out driving to the south part of town and, if you’re not using your GPS, you can somehow end up 20 miles…
Broken. Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines “Broken” as: Violently separated into parts Damaged or altered by breaking Made weak or infirm Cut off Not complete or full Admittedly, none of these definitions sound particularly comforting or attractive, and I think we could all agree that they are not exactly things that we would want to have…
One of my favorite things is to look back and read through my old journals. Each time that I do so, I am encouraged, and often times I gain insight into this crazy journey I’ve been on. Admittedly, I am prone to “tunnel vision,” and I easily lose sight of the bigger picture of what God…
The other night, I couldn’t sleep. I was lying awake in bed listening to music, when a certain song came on. Now, one of my favorite things about music is how a single song can bring back a flood of memories in an instant. The song that came on my iPod was “You Found Me”…
Paramutheomai 