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.