I went to Six Flags Magic Mountain about an hour away from where we live a week and a half ago.  I went with my friends, Laura and Nori.  Laura and I basically went to supprt Nori, because she was moving to Texas and wanted to go one last time before the move.  Laura and I both acted like tough chicks with attitudes of "yeah, sure, we love roller coasters...we'll go".  This was before we saw X2.  When you go to the actual website, you'll see what I'm talking about.  This roller coaster not only has you dangling in your seat, but has you dangling off the sides as your seat itself flips in full 360 degree circles while the ride is doing loops, turns, etc!  And you start the whole thing facing backwards!  In addition, you have full sound effects in speakers on either side of your head and you go through fire at some point in the ride (I did not actually see this, because my eyes were closed at that point.  But I did feel the heat.)  It was nothing like I had experienced.  It was a 2-hour wait just to ride the thing, so Laura and I had plenty of time to come up with an array of creative excuses of why we CANNOT ride this roller coaster.  But we did...ride it, that is.  No chickening out for these borderline-cowards.  The fortunate part is that since we rode this ride 1st, it made everything else seem like candy in comparison.  Thanks, girls, for a great day!

Speaking of Nori...Mike, Nori, and their son, Jeff, just left for their own exciting ride to the world of Texas.  They have now officially moved.  I can tell you that it has not hit Rick and I yet.  I think we are in denial...or we are so used to people leaving and coming back that we are just believing they are coming back...or maybe we feel a little angry with God, which is masking the truth of their absence...I don't know.  All I know is that a truly amazing, supportive, generous, loving, leading family has gone to God's next step for them in life and the process of accepting that is not easy.  We are thrilled about what God is going to do though as they pursue a future in ministry.  We are so thankful to have been a part of the preliminary shaping for that.  We love you guys and miss you already.

The final ride in my list here, is that of Ron Fisher's.  Ron is a chaplain in the Army, smack-dab in the middle of a 15-month deployment to Iraq.  He got to come home for 18 days in June to visit his family, but leaving again was all that much more difficult.  This time the kids grasp the enormity of what it means when Daddy walks out that door...and Ron and Amie probably do too.  Please pray for their family as it has been especially hard on the kids.  I know that when Rick receives emails from Ron, it really puts into perspective the smallness of our own struggles here in Port Hueneme.  It also puts into perspective how fortunate we are to be close to our family and not have our lives and the lives of dear friends in continuous danger.  It's a crazy world out there.  And sharing Christ to certain parts of it can be pretty risky.  Fishers, you guys are an inspiration.

More to come on the wedding in Sacramento we just returned from soon.

Much love,

Melissa 

A dear driend of mine and I were discussing blogs and how I (and many other of my friends) are taking longer and longer breaks between posts.  So, I realized...it's time again.  It's not that I don't like blogging.  I just don't always feel like others are going to be that interested in what is going on in our lives or in what I have to say.  But I guess YOU would not be checking in to read this right now if at least one of those two things weren't true.

Since the last post, our church had our 1st Annual 5K with EDGE Fitness Club. It was fun to have almost 1/3 of our church involved.  It was a great time to meet new people and reach out to the community.  I also finished my 1st 5K in under 30 minutes, which was all I wanted since running is NOT my favorite thing.

Speaking of running and fitness, I passed my NASM Personal Training Certification Exam last Friday!  I had been studying for this thing for 4 months, and I am so relieved to be completed.  My desire to do this in the 1st place is three-fold: 1) Help others take care of themsleves, 2) Build relationships with clients that afford me the opportunity to speak into their lives spiritually (I get to get out of my "church box"!), and 3) To fund my passion for recording orginal music.  So I'm excited about what's ahead!

Since Rick and I have been into nutrition for 2.5 years and working out faithfully for a while now, we have developed a longing to see our church get healthy.  In turn, we began a Biggest Loser-competition of sorts on June 1.  We have titled it  THE 6:20 CHALLENGE for 1 Corinthians 6:20 which says "You were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body."  It is an 8-week competition that ends the last Sunday in July, and the reward is $1000.00.  Pretty cool.

Rick went on our annual Men's Retreat at Camp Ocean Pines.  The guys had a great time worshiping the Lord, challenging one another, and discovering the depth of VICTORY found in Christ alone.  Welcome back, men!

This weekend we are heading up to Sacramento for my cousin's wedding.  We are looking forward to a little family vacation, so I hope to catch you up when we return.  Maybe I'll have something of more interest or depth to say.  Maybe not.  But you'll have to check-in to find out!  :-)

Love,

Melissa 

We have been going NON-STOP!!!!

Since the last time I blogged, Nana (Rick's mom) and PawPaw (my dad) both visited here together for Abigail's birthday.  We went to Chuck E. Cheese,

Disneyland,

and we bought a hamster named Hammy.

While they were here, we also had our CD release party.

We had a lot of fun with our family whom we love so dear.  Thanks, Nana and PawPaw for an awesome week!

Then, after that, I left for our long-awaited Women's Retreat in Pali Mountain.  It was a beautiful location.  The whole weekend was amazing.  God seriously showed up and did some transforming work in people's lives.  It was really cool to be a part of it.  And I believe that almost all 30 women came home feeling empowered and changed.

Amie Fisher came in to speak, and she brought one of our dear friends with her, Tosha Britton.  It was great to catch up, laugh, share, eat lots of sushi, and just seek out God together.  Love you guys, and I already miss you!

The day after the women's retreat, Rick, myself, and our Elders (Coltons and Perskys) went to a Leadership Advance at Bethel Church in Redding, CA.  ...........  Wow.  That's all I know to say.  As leaders, we had an opportunity to just spend hours bathing in the glory of God's Holy Spirit.  I hate to use such "Christianese", but it is what it is.  It was like being in an awakening.  We all came home changed from that even more than the Women's Retreat (especially the men, haha).  While we were there, God grew my little clubfoot leg too!  Seriously!  He did.  You can email me if you want to know more.

The day after we returned from that, Rick left for Texas (where he is still at).  I'll fill you in on that adventure when he gets home.

The coolest thing for me, now that I am home at least, is how the longing for more of God's presence has increased in me.  While I want to be a disciplined person and seek my God consistently out of sheer will and obedience when I need to, it is sure nice to just want more of God without working for the want.  The flip side, too, is in wanting more of Him, I want others to have more of Him as well.  I think I just needed to refuel.  There was a time at the Leadership Advance where I totally went weak at the knees and laid down on the bench (after almost knocking Rick over).  While I was lying there, I saw this beautiful picture in my head of the Cross wearing angel wings and standing on a golden road.  In that picture I felt like He said to me, "I am enough.  I am enough to guard you, watch over you, protect you, love you, care for you.  I am enough.  My child, know that...really know that, and your path will be full of unimaginable blessing."  We serve just a really good God, you know.

...Then there are Burma and China.  All the highs of spiritual renewal are intoxicating, but when you come home to hear of enormous disaster and lost life, it's easy to pop the bubble.  My heart literally pains for those there.  I'm praying so hard for an intense move of God among the survivors.  One so great, that the media will cover the good that is happening even MORE than the bad.  While I don't believe God sent these catastrophes, I do believe that He can redeem them.

Food for thought, and much more to come,

Melissa 

1000 copies of "Stand Up for Jesus" showed up on my doorstep last Friday afternoon.  The CD is done and here!  Praise God!  We had an awesome time Saturday night at the CD Release Party (even though it was so cold outside).  If you did not pre-buy a CD, feel free to order one today for $15.00.  PayPal payments can be made to mjmjoy@hotmail.com.  Or you can buy it at cdbaby.com.  Or you can wait about 4 weeks and download it off of iTunes.  Even if you don't or didn't choose to purchase a CD, please at least pray that this project will be used to expand God's kingdom.

Thanks so much,

Melissa 

As you know, I went to Dallas last week to visit Liz's baby, Samuel.  But while I was there, I realized it was also very important to be there for my other best friend of 17 years, Jeni Helms.  Jeni's husband, Michael, woke up on Good Friday with his entire right side paralyzed and incoherent speech.  Jeni called 911 and he was rushed to emergency room.  He regained function but experienced another bout of paralysis later.  They did many tests...MRI, CATscan, etc., and he left diagnosed with a minor sleep disorder.

Since being home, they have come to a pretty certain conclusion that it is not a sleep disorder or it is at least something more than just that.  Michael cannot stand up for more that 5 minutes without getting a terrible headache, becoming dizzy, and sometimes vomiting.  His short term memory is now declining.  At times, his speech is unclear and he is not always able to form correct sentences.  Michael has been a high school English Teacher for many years now, so this is not normal at all.  He is incredibly tired all the time, and he has not been able to return to work since Good Friday.  This is now affecting their financial state as well.  This past week Michael was given a Contrasting MRI and it too came back clear.  He will be put on an EEG test for 48 hours on Tuesday to further investigate his brain activity.

Jeni and Michael have 4 children: a 4-year old boy, Baily; 2-year old twin girls, Perri and Sophie; and an 8-month old, Remington.  Needless to say, their hands are full, and this trauma is almost more than a young family like this can handle.

Rick and I are praying for Michael's healing and Jeni's strength.  But we would ask that all of you just pray however you feel led.  They need support from the Body of Christ.  Supporting our brothers and sisters in any way we can IS and SHOULD ALWAYS BE one of our main purposes as disciples of Christ.  So please join with us.  If you feel led to support them in any other way besides prayerfully, please contact me and I'll forward you their info.

Thank you so much,

Melissa