Hello world!
Posted by melodieshouse on August 29, 2010
Welcome to Melodie’s JAMA Sites. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!
A Testimony to Share
Posted by melodieshouse on April 25, 2010
During the 1st service in church on Sunday April 18, the manifest presence of the Lord was like nothing I’ve experienced in a LOOOONG time. I was singing with the worship team and it was like the Shekinah glory settled on us. We were singing the song “Jesus is the Lord” (World Mandate or Travis Cottrell) when I was taken by surprise like I was standing at the shoreline on the beach and a big wave caught me off guard, knocked me off my feet and left me soaked! I had a hard time singing because I just started crying uncontrollably. God’s presence remained strong throughout that service.
I believe I got a touch from God and that He gave me my joy back, because when I came out of church, I felt so happy like I didn’t have a care in the world! I had been dealing with depression off and on since my son was born in Aug. 2005. When he was only 4 weeks old all my joy and life energy drained right out of me and I had been struggling to get it back ever since. My family’s financial situation over the last year was also overwhelming me and I was filled with anxiety. But since I left church Sunday last week, the worry and frustration has been gone! I used to dread getting up every morning, but not anymore!
For the first time I really GET IT that GOD IS IN CONTROL AND HE KNOWS MY EVERY NEED. I actually wondered whether He truly cared or if was punishing me and my husband. I know that thought process was seeded by the enemy but when you’re depressed you entertain the worst thoughts. Today however I feel like I’m about to burst with joy and gratitude at what HE has already done. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is within me! This is another truth that I never really “got” until recently when Pastor Tim taught on this in a sermon, and I’ve been saved and spirit-filled for more than 25 years (since I was 13). PRAISE GOD AND AMEN!
Demon Pass Slaughter of the Constitution
Posted by melodieshouse on March 19, 2010
So, I understand the House wants to “pass” the health care deform reform bill without actually voting on the whole bill, using a measure called the Slaughter Rule, or Deem and Pass, which sounds like Demon Pass. I don’t have time to go into all the details, but I will say I am so angry at the wholesale slaughter of the Constitution that our congress and president are undertaking that I just want to spit. They’re so determined to shove this up our proverbial behinds whether we the people want it or not, and most of us don’t, which was made clear with the rise of the Tea Party movement and the town hall meetings last August, but they’re not listening and I don’t think they really care. They’re willing to sell us all into slavery to pay for this too, in the form of more taxes and amassing more debt.
For your viewing displeasure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFWHlry2pNA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MUc2TAe9Og
That's not a mouth and you don't feed it!
Posted by melodieshouse on February 23, 2010
I stepped away from my computer for a few minutes this earlier this afternoon and didn’t lock my bedroom door. While I was downstairs, Angela, one of my 3-yr-old twins, got busy. I came back upstairs and ran her out of the master bathroom and sat back down at the computer. My computer, an iMac G5, had the “You’ve inserted a blank CD” window up asking what to do. I thought, “What’s that about?” and noticed a blank CD was missing off my desk and then saw a thumb drive volume mounted on my desktop. I removed the thumb drive, and pressed the Eject key. A CD tried to come out but went back in after only coming out about a half inch. I pressed Eject again and the disk came out a little more, I grasped it and saw a dime emerge at the lower end of the drive slot. That’s when I looked down at my table and noticed a handful of change I put there was missing too! I pressed the Eject key several times while grasping the CD until it finally came out. I turned off the iMac, tipped it on its side, and out dropped 2 quarters, another dime and 2 pennies. I turned the iMac on and the drive made a sound like it was trying to eject something. I tipped the computer again and nothing else came out, neither did anything rattle or clink inside. I slowly inserted the CD and it wouldn’t go all the way in, after about halfway it stopped on something toward the lower end of the drive. Drat! There’s obviously still something in there! Now I have to open up the iMac, remove the CD drive (actually it’s a Superdrive), and see if i can shake anything else out. I pray the drive mechanism isn’t damaged which would call for a replacement.
When I was 3 years old I stuffed bobby pins one at a time into an 8-track tape player. My parents chuckled and ribbed me about that for years afterward.
In honor of Angela, I’m posting courtesy of YouTube an American Express commercial from the ’80s featuring a toddler boy, a brand-new VCR, and oatmeal. My dad used to get a real kick out of it every time it came on, and of course it reminded my parents of the 8-track.
Some thoughts leading into 2010
Posted by melodieshouse on January 31, 2010
2009 was a tough year. It was not an understatement for me to declare that I’m still here in my previous post. I’ve been very hesitant to talk about it or blog about it. I’m not going to go into a lot of details but here’s the gist of it:
Our income took a severe hit last April (David and I are self-employed). By August we barely had enough to buy groceries and gas. By September we lost the van and by October we had to leave the house. In October while we were clearing out the house I slipped and fell and broke my left ankle. God is good though and greatly to be praised; my ankle has healed up and we’ve been provided a house to stay in and a good vehicle while we work to get our income back up again to where it was in 2008. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas with my mother-in-law with plenty to eat and the kids made out like bandits. We learned who our real friends are and realized we have more than we thought. True friends are one of the greatest if not the greatest blessing you can receive from God.
In the midst of all this I realized my skills as a web designer and this year I’ve officially launched myself as a freelance web designer. My business website is www.melodielaylor.com.
I believe 2010 can only get better. My area just saw it’s first snowstorm in 9 years, and it’s the most snow we’ve seen in 20 years. I was used to seeing a few inches of snow every winter growing up and it was strange to have 9 years of sweater weather during what was supposed to be winter. This season has been a real winter. It was like everything had shifted out of balance. Now I feel like things are shifting back again. Praise the Lord!
My pastor is teaching a series on the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He defined the anointing as “the power of God to get results.” I realized something after meditating on that statement over and over. I realized that without “the power of God to get results” one is striving. Striving is working hard without results. To strive means to try (hard) in one’s own strength; to struggle or contend. I realized we’ve been doing things in our own strength, trying to make it on our own, doing things our way and not trusting in the Lord and seeking HIS way.
Some Scriptures to think about:
“And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.” (Deuteronomy 8:17-18 KJV)
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.” (Isaiah 10:27 KJV)
“Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6 KJV)
“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5 KJV)
Speaking for myself, I must confess that I have serious trust/control issues. It’s in my nature to be suspicious of everyone until they have EARNED my trust. I also want to be in control, even when I have things totally out of control. But I hate to be in charge! Am I mixed up or what? My motto was “Never put your trust in man but in the Lord only.” Only I haven’t been trusting the Lord either, though I thought I was. This year I’ll be working on my inner self a LOT. I forgot what it’s like to walk in the Spirit and spent several years in the flesh (or what some might call the soulish realm). I was focusing inward and on my problems instead of upward towards heaven.
I could keep going on but I’ll just conclude this post by saying that I need the anointing in every aspect of my life. Not just to be an effective Christian witness, but to be effective in my business and in my relationships as wife, mother and friend. I need the Holy Spirit by my side and filling me every day, else my spiritual tank gets empty as it had been for several years.
Happy New Year 2010! Guess what? I'm still here!
Posted by melodieshouse on January 2, 2010
Hey, I’ve been really busy and a lot of change has been happening in my household, so that’s why the postings have been so sparse for a while. Yes, my poor little blog has been sorely neglected, but not forgotten, so I’m taking a few moments to post something, mainly because I’m trying out yet another WordPress plugin that I hope will post my blog posts to Facebook INCLUDING a post to my feed. The plugin I’m trying out is called WordBook, which I think I tried before in place of WPBook, but a new version came out yesterday and I’m trying it again because WPBook puts blog posts in my Facebook Boxes but doesn’t post to my feed to give all my friends a heads-up.
Anyway, I’m so glad 2009 is gone, and I have faith that 2010 will be a year of great blessing and promise. So Happy New Year everyone and God bless!
"That's What Christmas is All About"
Posted by melodieshouse on December 14, 2009
It’s not about spending time with family and friends or exchanging gifts – we can do that anytime and shouldn’t need an official holiday to give us an excuse. It’s about celebrating God’s gift to us: sending His only begotten Son into the world, born of a virgin.
Linus Christmas Monologue
When God shows up and my Christian walk Part 2
Posted by melodieshouse on September 22, 2009
David and I have been going to a particular church since May. I have never felt more at home or felt the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit like I have at this church. The preaching and teaching there is straight from the Bible, and it’s not milk, it’s all meat. We partnered with the church a couple of Sundays ago (similar to joining, but not quite as formal). The thing is though, David has told me more than one time that he’s not into the church membership thing, and getting wrapped up in a bunch of church activities. But he’d never been to a church before where the preaching is so solid, the presence of God is so regularly evident in the worship, and the people there are so genuine and caring, and he’s been to so-called Bible-believing, full-gospel, charismatic/Pentecostal churches before. I’ve certainly been to my share of them, and most of them I left feeling something was missing, I’m sad to say. There’s no doubt in my mind we were led to become a part of this church.
Now let’s get to the part where God really showed up in a big way. (more…)
My children are growing too fast
Posted by melodieshouse on September 20, 2009
I realized this weekend, again, that my children are growing too fast. My oldest, Melissa, is 6, and yesterday my husband took the training wheels off her bike. I know age 6 is not prodigious for going 2-wheels only, but I still feel so proud of her. She took to balancing on her bike so quickly, and I’ve watched her this afternoon riding in the driveway like she’s been doing it all along. I didn’t take to balancing on 2 wheels so well when I was a kid. I asked my son, Joshua, who’s 4 now, if he’s ready to ride without the training wheels and he said no. I’m pretty sure it won’t take long for him to change his mind though. Now if I can get the twins potty trained, that’s one milestone I’ll be SOOOO glad to get through. I will NOT miss the days of diapers. I DO miss when they were cuddly little bundles small enough to rest in each of my husband’s hands (except Joshua, he wasn’t quite that tiny), and they would coo and grunt and nuzzle our necks. I miss when they would nurse their fill and look punch drunk. I miss the days when there were no socks and shoes small enough to stay on their feet. I miss Melissa vocalizing “eeeeeee,” “eeeeeee” trying to talk to us when she was only a few months old. I miss feeling them move in my belly when I was carrying each of them. I miss experiencing the moments right after each of them was born.
But I have many more milestones to look forward to. The twins sleeping in big girl beds, then going to the potty on their own. My son and the twins riding their bikes without training wheels. Each of them reading to me instead of me reading to them. More days of no front teeth. Watching them become their own persons. Teaching them about Jesus and the ways of the Lord, then watching them grow in faith. Then PUBERTY and the TEENAGE years (well, I’m not sure I look forward to that period, but I’m hopeful that time in their upbringing will ultimately prove to be very rewarding and we’ll all look back on those years with fondness).
You still can't crush a crab!
Posted by melodieshouse on August 8, 2009
Yesterday I went to my class reunion cookout. I’m a proud member of the Hampton High School Class of 1989. It was great seeing folks there I hadn’t seen in at least 10 years (from our last reunion) and some I hadn’t seen for 20 years. Sadly I missed seeing some people I wanted to say hi to, because some weren’t able to attend, or we somehow passed each other by. I hope we all don’t wait another 10 years to catch up with each other again.
