Hello everyone,

We have just returned from another trip to El Salvador to drill a water well and we learned some interesting things regarding our trip there in September and how truly miraculous it was to get that well in after all. 

To recap you all remember how we had drilled for three days only to find out that we may not even be able to get a well in that would be able to provide for the large village of El Milagro. We all made the decision to move the drill equipment to a new location and resume drilling a fourth day. We were able to eventually get a well in at about 65′ but there were some concerns that during the dry season the well may run dry. Our time in the village had ended so with some hesitation in our hearts we left El Milagro feeling like we hadn’t actually given them the best well but that it would do until another team could drill another well to support them.

Well it turns out that so many villagers were coming to get clean water, thousands of them, that the well was running dry at the end of every day and this during the wet season! Living Water International decided to bring another team to the village of El Milagro and drill another well on the other side of the village since the village was so large. The other team began drilling and stopped at 100′, dropped the well casing in only to find out there was no water. They began pulling everything out and drilling in a new location, again to 100′ and did not find any water. They moved and drilled again a third time to 100′ and could not find water. I am sure the disappointment of that team was greater than we can imagine! The team left El Salvador unable to complete a well for this village.

On our recent trip back to El Salvador we were able to stop by the village of El Milagro and check on the well. Now during the dry season the well is still producing enough water to keep the entire village sustained with clean water. They begin lining up with their water jugs at 6:00am to make sure they get the water they need for the day. As soon as the children saw the Living Water International van they began to spread the word and pretty soon there were several familiar faces all smiling and thanking God for the well in their village.

God’s plans are higher than our plans and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. We never truly know how richly we are blessed until we are able to see our selves in someone else’s failure and know that except by the grace of God we could be them. This grace, this unmerited favor of God, is not something that we deserve or can attain but a free gift that we can choose to receive. So with this one well for the village of El Milagro God is able to show both them and us that He is in control, that He will provide for His people. Although man has good intentions we often times miss out on seeing the true miracles of God thinking that we have enough knowlege or engineering ability to make anything happen on our own. So I would encourage you today to let go of your ideas and plans and truly grab hold of what God’s plan is for your life trusting that He loves you and wants the best for you in all things.

I miss you all and hope to see you soon!

With love,
Melissa

If you feel like taking a look please do, I am looking for people to make comments and suggestions, and come back to me with their own ideas, agreement or contrary.   Feel free to comment here, or on the pages themselves (each one has it’s own comment section).

There is a theme in town, and a new page in the top navigation called “Impulse”.  There have been some recent and significant changes in my life, and part of that change is sharing it with everyone.  Impulse is where I want that change to mature.  It’s a story from me, yes, but I would like to open a dialog.  Every page has a comment block, and comments are open to anyone.  Feel free to check it out. 

As for the changes,  I have long been remiss  in my spiritual walk.  I have been stumbling around in the dark, wanting to change and hoping that I would but not really getting anywhere.  So, I decided to stop making excuses for myself and open myself to the transforming power that only Christ can offer.  And since that time, He has begun to work in me and through me to accomplish his goals.  It has been wonderful so far, and I hope that I can share more of it with you as things go along.  Impulse is where I will be sharing thoughts about my revelations, so check it out. 

In other news, for anyone that stumbles across this page but doesn’t know me very well, I’m still in school full time, not working again yet.  I will probably be looking for something over the summer depending on how many classes I am taking, but we’ll see how much I need.  I’m still in love, things have been rocky for a bit but they seem to be turning up again.   I’m moving out of my apartment next month and back home to live with my family again, mostly because it’s expensive to live in an apartment when you don’t have a job, but also because it will be nice to be with them again. 

If you read this and want to hear more out of me, hit me up with a comment or something.  I need all the encouragement I can get! 

I’m going to get personal here – I thought I would warn you up front.  There are changes happening in me – changes forshadowed by the aforementioned post in September.  Changes that have been long overdue, and some that I didn’t see coming until I realized that they had already happened. 

For one, I fell in love.

She is a beautiful girl, one that has her heart set on the kingdom, and as a teacher, touches the lives of many people every day.  She would be embarrased to hear me talk like this about her, but that is because she is very humble and at times, insecure.  Her family raised her differently then most would, but the results have brought about her, and she is to me the exemplification of beauty, possibly everything that I could want of a woman.  She is reserved, and Godly.  I love her.  Things are going a bit rocky now though, for many reasons.  Some are issues that she has to deal with, and others that I have to.  I still hope for the best, but it is going to be a long road.

Those of you that read this and know me will understand that while my faith has been strong before, it has not been as strong in recent years, and during a time was nigh non-existant.  I went through a dark period of my life, where I turned away from what I knew God wanted, what I knew was best for me.  I felt guilty all the time.  All of my choices haunted me.  Eventually, I was able to leave that behind, and begin the process of recovery.  I’m not as strong as I have been in the past, but my faith is growing again; where there were once shadows in my heart, now the sun is out again and a garden is growing.  I feel someday soon it will go into bloom. 

One of the things that was pointed out to me recently is that I have never really had a drive to do anything that was greater then the next day, the next month, the next year.  I haven’t serriously worked towards a lifetime goal, haven’t found a calling, and probably haven’t even been listening for one.   Even some of the things that I thought were things that I did because I was trying to be good, after searching myself I find selfish motives.  Living a life full of sins tainted everything that I did.  Looking back at those times, however, I am able to see what God was able to accomplish with my actions.  Even though they were selfish at the time, God was able to use them to build a framework for my recovery.  He put certain people in my life that would speak to me, and give me strength to change, and motivation to keep changing. 

Last night, all of these changes that I’ve been working so hard for came to a peak. I’m nowhere close to my destination, but I have reached an important milestone in my journey.  I realized that I don’t have to change back.  I have the power over my destiny, with the freedom of choice that God has granted me.  If I keep on this path, stick to these changes that I am working so hard for, then I will bring glory to the name of the Lord, and will be a tesimony of His forgiveness and power over sin.  With continued change, the prospect of being of use to God excites me; I hope that one day my faith is strong enough to hear what He is calling me to.  I know He has changed me though, because I am able to love.  I had forgotten how great love was, and how wonderful it was to be in love.  Now God has returned to me the ability to love that I had lost, and all He asks is that I love Him.  I do – I do love God.  I have been changed by His blood, and His forgiveness moves me.  Because I love Him, He pours into me all of the love I need to give to others, all of the love I have for her comes from Him. 

My prayer is that God will continue to use my actions to build up His kingdom; but beyond that, I hope that He will take power over my selfish desires and help me find ways to honor Him for that sake alone, that I will start doing things for the right reasons.  I also pray that he will give me the will and the fortitude to mainain these changes.  If I would pray anything selfish at all, I would pray that He would warm her heart to me, and show her not the brokeness of who I was, but the man who He will make me into.  And if she sees me fit to be her husband, that our marriage would be a testament to the beauty and promises of His Kingdom; that we would build a strong foundation that will stand the test of time and defy common thought and sad statistics. 

In that light, I celebrate tonight.  I celebrate the changes that have happened in my life recently, and God’s power to affect those changes in my life.  For that, I can’t thank Him enough. 

Until another day, I hope that these words can bring you hope for your own lives, for your own struggles.  No matter how deep you are in, there will always be a way out.  And while we will be required to face consequences for our actions, forgiveness is extended to all of us who have wronged another or God.  Once we know the power of forgiveness, then we can be lights to the world – and shine that forgiveness and it’s power to everyone else who is living in the dark.