"Hello Darlin'...."

"It's been a long time."

Does anyone recognize that line? "Hello Darlin, it's been a long time" is from an old country tune by Conway Twitty. I don't really know why I chose this moment to share that, but it has "been a long time" since I've blogged. Since September 13th.

I have logged on to blogger.com many times. But when I would get to the screen to make a new post, my mind would just go blank. Dry. I have been crazy busy. Pushed to the max lately. And truly in the whole scheme of things, when I looked at my priorities, blogging was not at the top. My family has needed me. I traveled to Florida to speak at a women's retreat. My mom is in the hospital. The Proverbs 31 office has been very busy. Football games. Dance lessons. Conferences with teachers. My husband had a double root canal with a third to be done next week. A friend needed me. Much to do. I bet your life is not much different.

There has been so much that I've wanted to write about. But it just hasn't happened. I know many believe that if they don't blog every day, people will forget about them. That may be true. But I've had to trust God that He will provide and fill in the gaps. He is meant to be remembered, not me.

I will be posting soon about my Florida retreat. I had the amazing opportunity to spend a weekend at the Palm Island Resort near Venice, FL on the Gulf Coast. I went to share and minister to these beautiful ladies, but God is so good. These amazing ladies also shared and ministered to me. I can't wait to post my pictures from this awesome retreat. I'll post very soon, I promise!

On a closing note, could I ask you to please pray for my mom? She is in the hospital. The doctors are not sure what is wrong. There is fluid outside of her lungs and one of her lungs is deflated. She's had many tests and has more to follow. She's scared. Please just pray for her. She's only 63 yrs old. Thank you so much. Her name is Becky.

Blessings sweet friends. And thank you so much for those of you who have written to check on me. That means the world to me. You are a treasure in my life.

Much Love,

Melissa

What the Heck???

Oh my, why is everyone freaking out over gas???!!! It is over $5 a gallon around here. And I drive an SUV. No kidding, this is crazy.

It already costs me over $100 to fill up my car.

Samantha (my friend and coworker) and I went to the gas station on Friday morning to try to fill up before the rush. We went to Costos first. The lines were out of the parking lot! We could not believe it. We did not have 2 hours to wait, so we went to another gas station. I'm so glad we filled up on Friday when we did. We paid $3.69 per gallon. Now around Charlotte it's anywhere from $4.00-$5.29. Crazy. Honestly, I may start riding my bike to work. And I mean that.

Short post. Gotta go. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Love,

Melissa

Rice and Beans Night

Oh, yea. It's that time of the month again. No, not that time of the month, but time to write letters to our sponsored Comassion child, Maria.

This monthly ritual has turned into quite an ordeal. In a good way though. It involves serving, eating, sacrificing, friendship, family, love, and prayer.

It was our turn to host R and B Night. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, I'll explain.

My family sponsors a child through Compassion International. Her name is Maria and I've written about her before. I met her last year and she is just a precious sweet child. She is beautiful. Donna and Sydney also sponsor a child through Compassion. Her name is Nataly. Both of these girls live in Ecuador. Each month we get together to celebrate these precious children.

Our meal is rice and beans. The truth is, Maria and Nataly's families quite possibly can't even afford rice and beans. They are very poor. We eat rice and beans. Some of us like it and some of us don't. If anyone elects not to eat the rice and beans, they get nothing. Their hunger reminds them of the hunger that is felt by those less fortunate.

We write letters to our girls. We draw pictures. Make crafts. Send family photos. Since my family is so big, we attach a picture of the person who is writing the letter. Maria gets 6 letters from us. Donna and Sydney do the same. We serve together. We sacrifice our time, money, and tastebuds (I hesistate to even call it a sacrifice), we pray for our girls and their families. And we enjoy each other as we do it. Take a look:

Here are Sydney, Hayley Grace, and Dylan at the table working on their Christmas trees for Maria and Nataly.

Quite the workers. Our kitchen table was transformed to a writing and crafts table.



Hayley Grace...this is the picture we attached to her letter.



Dylan ... this is the picture we attached to his letter.






Blake and Princess ... this is the picture we attached to Blake's letter. Princess did not write a letter.




Pictured here are the Christmas tree that Hayley Grace and Dylan made, the picture/poster Blake made, and the letter Blake wrote.




Here are my letter, Hayley Grace's letter, and Dylan's letter.




"Ha! Caught you! You really do like rice and beans!" This is after the night was supposedly over. Sydney and Hayley Grace wolfing down the r and b when they thought no one was looking!


What fun! And what a good feeling it is to know that we are making a difference in the life of a child!

Blessings to all,

Melissa

If you are interested in sponsoring a child through Compassion, click the link to the left.

Blast From the Past

I apologize for the blurriness in this photo, but this is an old picture. It is me (on the left) and my wonderful and sweet and loyal friend Donna (on the right). I just had to post it!

This picture was taken in 1984. We were so young. Just look! And as for the Santa in the middle, that's Thomas. I haven't talked to him in over 20 years. Wonder what Santa is up to?

As for the elf, that's Donna. I've mentioned her here before. She was the Homecoming Queen of East Mecklenburg High School that year. I wasn't even on court. Oh well. But I was a Lettergirl. That would be the school dance team, kind of. We wore letters that spelled out our high school name and danced at football and basketball games. However, we ran out of letters, so I had the mascot on my uniform. See the eagle?

Donna's daughter Sydney, and my daughter, Hayley Grace, are good friends. They play together and they also serve together. Their friendship is so sweet. And I can honestly say that Donna is a friend that loves me NMW. No Matter What. I met her on the bus in the 5th grade. We were in the same 6th grade class. We went to elementary, jr. high, high school, and college together. She was in my wedding. Then we lost touch a for a while. But we've reconnected and ... well .. look out! We are double trouble! And so are our daughters.

Just tonight, Donna and Sydney were at our house for "Rice and Beans" night. I'll post pictures from that later.

Wow, I look at the picture above and it brings back so many great memories. High School seems like just yesterday. I can smell the school. Hear the bell, the teachers, the football game atmosphere. I can remember certain things as if they just happened. Yet, here I am. 41 years old. Married almost 19 years. (more years than I was old in this photo!!!!) 4 kids. Working full time. My oldest child has his learner's permit. My youngest, Hayley Grace, is boy crazy! (for the Jonas Brothers) But I'm thankful that one thing that remains from this picture is my friendship with Donna. :) In fact it's stronger now than it was then.

A blast from the past. A blast indeed.

Love,

Melissa

Fun Friday :) I'm the mom of ...

A South Charlotte Shocker Football Player!!!!! That's right, Hayden made the team! Yeah!!!! I'm a football mom!

How emotional though. The parents were waiting outside the gym. The boys seemed to never come out. It was 30 minutes past the pick up time. Finally a few boys trickled out ... looking very sad. I hate that part. Then another came out, lip quivering, searching the group of parents for his. He found his mom and fell apart in her arms. I about lost it. I hate that there have to be cuts. I understand it. I've been cut before. And I know it's a part of life, but it still breaks my heart.

Finally, out comes Hayden. Looking rather sad, but with a smirk on his face. He was trying to look sad, but he couldn't hold that for long. He grinned from ear to ear, quietly walked up to his dad and I and said, "I made the team." Oh how I longed to hear those words, "I made the team." (there's an upcoming devotion in that for sure!)

So a Fun Friday it is around the Taylor household. Now I have one more thing to add to my schedule: Thursday afternoon football games! And I couldn't be happier!

Have a great weekend y'all!
Love,

Melissa

How Can You

NOT LIKE FOOTBALL??? I'm sorry people, but I just don't get it. I love football!

My sweet friend, Lysa TerKeurst, wrote on her blog, http://lysaterkeurst.blogspot.com/2008/09/who-moved-my-field.html, the other day:

The football season is now upon us. Yeah. I say that with the same enthusiasm that I might muster up to express my joy over cleaning my base boards with a toothbrush. Yeah.While my family hoops and hollers and cheers with all things pigskin, I express my excitement by plucking my eyebrows.

The same enthusiasm that she musters up to express joy over cleaning her baseboards with a toothbrush? What? Lysa, what's up, you need to hang out with me. Football rocks!

I especially like college football. The atheletes aren't yet spoiled by millions of dollars. There is a band and a fight song. I love fight songs. And loyal fans ban together like family. It's just good fun.

Last Saturday, we started watching games at 11:00 am. We stopped at 11:00 pm. All day. Barbeque, friends, family, cheering, booing, high fives, and in your faces. I was just as happy when my favorite teams won as I was when my least favorite team (Clemson Tigers) lost:) Is that very nice? Who cares, it's football. Even as I write this, I'm watching my Gamecocks (South Carolina) play Vanderbilt. Go Gamecocks! I was raised a Gamecock. My parents had season tickets and I could say, "Go Gee Cocks, Boo Kitties" before I could even say, "MaMa and DaDa". I did not go to college there however. I went to Appalachian State. By the way, they have won the National Championship in football in their division 3 years in a row. They also beat Michigan last year. Do you even care about this? I'm telling you, I just love football!

My 13 yr old son, Hayden, is trying out for his middle school football team. He's the only athelete in our family. He already plays for a Pop Warner league. I am praying he makes his school team. He has football in his blood like I do. He is so passionate about it. He trained all summer, on his own. His dad set up a 40 yd dash area and Hayden practiced in the hot summer sun every day. He also worked on push ups, planks, and back flips (not really football related, but it takes lots of talent to do a back flip!). He worked on this by his own motivation. He'll find out Friday or Monday if he makes the school team. Ooh I hope he does. Once when he was watching a game and his favorite team (Florida Gators) lost to Auburn (they usually lose to Auburn), he threw the remote control across the room. It totally fell apart into lots of pieces. Like I said, he's passionate about football. (He did get punished for his inappropriate behavior.)

I love football so much, it even affects my speaking schedule. Barb Spencer, our speaker coordinator at Proverbs, has learned. She's also an avid football fan. And a sad one. Her Hokies (Virginia Tech) lost last weekend (sorry Barb), anyway, she books my speaking engagements. When I get a request in the fall, she knows I have to check the Gamecock and Gator schedules first. There are certain weekends I just can't be away. I can't believe I just admitted that! (with that said, if God was telling me to go somewhere and speak, I would....I may argue with Him if there was a good game on that day, but I would go. I'm not totally crazed...I don't think I am at least.)

So, back to Lysa. She ended her football post with this comment:

Are you a football fan? Do you have some little tidbit of football knowledge that you'd like to share? Is there any hope that I could be more entertained by people smacking into each other than by my own eyebrows?

Yes I am a football fan. And Lysa, I do have some knowledge I'd like to share. Pick a team and follow them. Wear their colors. Wave their flags. Learn their fightsong. Watch ESPN and read the Sports section to see where your team ranks. And come over to my house on Saturdays to watch some good ole southern football! I'll feed you and I'm pretty sure that you will be more entertained than plucking your eyebrows! You can even bring your family! You can even bring your tweezers if you like! And if you are really bored, well, I'll let you clean my baseboards with a toothbrush :)

So, what do you think of football? And just FYI my Canadian and English and other worldwide friends, we ain't talkin' soccer or futbol here. This is full contact, tight pants, and helmets. You play mostly with your hands, not your feet. So, why do they call it football? Well I don't know that and I really don't care either.

Well, I gottta go. It's 7-3 and I can't just sit here any longer.

I hope you are happy, healthy, and having a great day wherever you are and whenever you read this. And may your team win! Unless they are playing mine!

Go Team,

Melissa

****Update: :( I'm sad. The Gamecocks lost. To Vanderbilt for goodness sakes! 24-17. One thing about being a Gamecock fan, you learn to hope. And believe. That one day we'll really be good!!!! :) Still smiling! There are more games on Saturday!