Be a Display of Splendor: A Mission Statement

I spent my holiday season a bit on a break just to get my mind right and get ready for this new year. I spent my whole New Year's day reading and getting inspired and I made a few plans that I am excited about which of course I will be blogging about.

I had looked back at my 2014 year and thought initially that it was a quiet year in that I didn't progress anywhere in my life. But that just isn't true at all because wherever I felt I had remained stagnant, God has been using to help shape me! I truly believe that I had made no progress in my journey last year because it was my choice to live in negative thoughts and maintain negative habits. Now, this year I have the chance to make a new choice to let the lessons I learned last year shape me and propel me into a positive year. 

On New Year's day, someone posted this scripture on Facebook and then it was the quote of the day on my phone's Bible app widget:

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” ~ Isaiah 43:19

I was moved by the appropriateness of that passage for a new year that I didn't stop there . . . 

I then opened my devotional Bible to the book of Isaiah, read the intro, read that passage, read that chapter, then moved to the next day's devotional after that passage which then brought me to Isaiah 61 appropriately titled "The Year of the Lord’s Favor" which pretty much is like a mission statement for 2015. I decided to rewrite it as a mission statement by changing a few words . . . 

“ The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news . . . He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom . . . and release from darkness . . . to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve . . . to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of despair. [I] will be called [an oak] of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.” ~Isaiah 61:1-3

I have lived for years wanting to use my platform to inspire and help others. I want to use this statement to remind myself always that God has a plan for me but he can't use me until I make my lessons into productive actions. 

I have been planted so that I could use my life as a display of splendor. That is pretty powerful. So, I probably should be doing right things to be a better display. I am not meant to be a display of negativity. I am meant to display HIS splendor.

Okay, 2015, The Year of the Lord's Favor. . . I am ready. 

I feel a series comin' that will break down that passage. Get inspired with me and LIKE The STRONG Life on Facebook. 

What are your goals for this year? What will you do to live in God's favor?

~Melina

The Hardest Part Pt. I - Never Waste a Crisis

I have been sitting on so many notes and have been reading and breathing and singing and sleeping and dreaming everything I can that involves anything to do with God to survive everyday. I have surprised myself in my strength but I should have known that I would be able to do it when I gave myself entirely to God.

After my divorce was final, getting that final paper was expected but not any less painful.

Then came Thanksgiving and now the Christmas season. The first batch of holidays I'll be without my husband, sorry, ex-husband (still hard to say) in 8 years. I am still heartbroken. . .

The Hardest Part is the title of this series because acceptance and moving on is hardest when you look at the fact that a man you planned to spend the rest of your life with, a man who you once thought you could never live a day without seeing, feeling, hearing, kissing, seeing. . . a man who was your husband, who is now a man turned stranger. . .

Typing those last few words still stings. I suppose it will sting for years. That right there is the hardest part in this divorce for me. My heart still loves him and my mind still misses him. But here is the good news. . . I am happy! Why, you ask? Because I have God. The only way to cope with my divorce, as with any crisis in life is to walk with God. I could sit here and give a testimonial about my faith journey and struggles through the years that led me to this point, but this series of posts will focus on how I am initially coping with being a divorcee.

God works in ways to make any message we hear apply to our lives and at my new church home, Cape Christian, here in Cape Coral, FL, we got done with a 3 week series that I used to gear my mind and my heart for the battle that lies ahead of me. A battle that is a blessing because of who I am becoming as I grow in my faith and relationship with Christ.

I took notes from this series and will share how I'm applying it to my divorce experience.

from Week 1 of Resilience: A study on the book of James (click the link to watch the series online for free! I recommend it!)

Never Waste a Crisis
This series started the day after I received the final dissolution of marriage paper so it couldn't had come at a better time in my life. I remember waking up that Sunday morning feeling so broken and hopeless. I remember crying on the way to church just begging God to hold me up. I also remember coming home and sharing these notes from that sermon to my mom, telling her how I was going to be alright and this was why:

In trials and tribulations, choose joy! not anger or bitterness
choose joy because of what it produces - perseverance and so that I won't be rattled in my faith

I know God is going to use the pains and struggles in my life to make me better. I choose to be joyful about that because I am excited about who I am going to become from it, what I will accomplish and who I might inspire in the process for me to become the best I can be for the God that I love. Anger and bitterness doesn't help me or build me up. In fact it would only keep me miserable. Yes, it is hard and yes, it hurts and yes, it gets lonely especially for the holidays without having someone to share it with, but I will be joyful because of the blessings I have all around me in this time of my life.

Ask God!
Believe and don't doubt
He gives generously
what are you trying to grow in me?
Something is broken in your life so that God can strengthen something else.

I also know that God is working in me. I feel it everyday and I see it in the proof of the blessings I have that help make me into the new person I am becoming. Here I am, a personal trainer, I have a job doing what I love, I workout and love it, I have my family, my youth, my health, my pug, a beautiful best friend and sister in Christ, a church home, the will in my heart to want to serve, and a passion for life again. Something broke in my life so that God could strengthen me! It is a process and it is hard, very very hard, but I am happy. I am genuinely happy.

Is something breaking in your life so that there can be room for God to strengthen you somewhere else?  Ask for God's blessings, believe He is working, and choose joy!

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Fighting Off Fear

Will I be able to pay my loans, my car, my phone? Will I be healthy enough to make it during my time without health insurance? Will I get a job I enjoy and make enough money to stand on my own two feet and truly be independent? Will I ever find love that lasts? Will I be alone? Will I be able to really hear God and make the right decisions that bring Him glory?

There is nothing like going through a life changing event to make you feel overwhelmed in fears. But, even in our happy times, we fear that it is all too good to be true.

These are thoughts that rob us of joy and the ability to live in peace. We've all heard that. It is harder to live it. It is WAY harder to live it. But it is possible when you do one simple thing. Give it to God.

I remember watching a Joyce Meyer broadcast this week when she said how she wouldn't even go to her husband about anything if she wanted a different response because she knew he'd always say, "Cast your cares."

Cast your cares.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you ~ 1 Peter 5:7

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall ~ Psalm 55:22

I guess I can be in panic mode sometimes but I do trust that the lord is doing work on my behalf. I am currently on the job hunt but I am actually not nervous or worried because I know the right job that I'm supposed to have will be there.

I always struggled with letting go and letting God, it is a scary thing to let go and trust, but who better to do that with than God? I really don't have a choice right now than to wait and see what happens but I'm not going to be in angst over it! Lords knows getting over a broken heart is enough, I don't need anymore in my mind when God's got this! I choose to hold my head up high and cast my cares!

Now here is my challenge for you. Ask God right now to take your worries away. It's that simple, you ask and he takes them! Now BELIEVE that he's taking care of it. When any little worry comes to your mind, shoo it out by telling yourself, that God is taking care of it. Keep doing that even if you don't believe it, because you will find that you will believe it!

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"She is clothed in Strength" Printable & Pep Talk

It's Friday! While I love the weekend because we usually go to the beach or do something water related, I fear it because I can't resist the beer on the beach, the cocktail at the bar, and the pizza that everyone else is eating. It is a struggle that I am sick of! All week I do great, eat as best I can, workout everyday, but the weekend comes and I reverse all of my hard work. What is with me?!

It's laziness on my part. Giving in to the temptations of food and drinks. It's just easier to give in and say well there is always tomorrow, right?

No way!

It has to stop. At some point you have to tell yourself, "I have a goal and I'm gonna get there! I'll be darned if I'm the one stopping me!"

Which brings me to a line of scripture that has spoken to me for so long, and has been the inspiration for why I started this blog. It is a reminder of who I want to be, what I want to live for.

I will try to post every week an inspirational quote or scripture to get you going and keep motivated. You never know when some simple words can move you! Sometimes it can be stuff I have pinned on Pinterest that get me going or printable versions of quotes I have loved over the years or my own words that you can download and hang on your bulletin board or put in a frame. :-)


Get your free download of this print from my Scribd account. This version is a PDF and it doesn't have the url on the image. :-)

Here is to living the STRONG life!

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