Sound Of A Melody

"'Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, who seek the LORD: look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain: when he was but one I called him, then I blessed him and multiplied him.' Indeed, the LORD will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places. And her wilderness He will make like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and sound of a melody." Isaiah 51:1-3


Are you in need of comfort? Do you feel like there are places in your life that are barren or dry? Places void of hope? I have experienced those places. At different points in my life I face these dry places; these places where I cannot see hope on the horizon, only dust as far as the eye can see. 


I visited The Return last Friday night, at His House in Spring Hill, TN. It is a time of worship, prayer and waiting. It was just what I needed. I have been in an odd place the last couple of weeks. In some respects I am still there. It is a place that is hard to explain. I'm confident of the love of God for me, as much as I can be. I am not hopeless. That is to say, I am not completely devoid of hope. However, I see an area in my life that needs water. It really needs an oasis. 


Okay, it needs a tidal wave. 


This is what brought me to The Return. I love the name! It's just what I needed. It's one thing to live each day knowing you are loved by God. That is wonderful, truly. But it is an entirely different thing to live each day hearing straight from His lips that He loves you. It would be like my kids living each day in my house but we never talk, and they hear from other people that I love them but they never come to me and let me tell them to their face. After a while, they might start to wonder if that love was really true. I don't know how long they would be able to go without hearing that from me. Maybe they could, but they certainly would not walk in confidence. Anyway, that is what I was missing: my time with Him. I'm not talking about a religious duty of (insert deep dramatic voice here) "spending time in the word". I'm talking about having a conversation with the One who loves me and knows me perfectly; letting Him wash over me with His words of grace and encouragement. I had a little bit here and there but not enough. I just needed some time with my Love. 


So, I went and had a wonderful time of just resting in His presence and letting Him speak the words that I desperately needed to hear. I worshiped and sang. I danced. I prayed. I waited...It seemed to be a night where God was speaking healing and restoration through each song; through each prayer. I closed my eyes and saw Isaiah 51. I had no idea what it was so I turned to it and began to read.


Wow.


What a promise. What encouragement.


There are a couple of things that struck me. One thing is that He called Abraham when he was but one, and He blessed him and multiplied him. This is what He wants us to look at. He is the One that brings the increase. Listen, Abraham did what he could do (many times throughout their marriage, I sure) but what he could do was not good enough. It took God to bring the increase. If you are trusting in what you can do to produce what you are hoping for, you will most likely be very disappointed and certainly tired. I am here to tell you that God WANTS to bless you. He is eager to give you every good thing. Trust me, we are not better parents than Him. It gives me great joy to bless my children with things they need and with things they want. It makes me ecstatic. How much more the Father of the universe who gave what was most important to Him? If He didn't withhold His own Son, He will not withhold the money, job, relationship, healing, that you need. Look to what He has already done and know that He's not tired. He is still multiplying! If you have a hard time trusting and believing that it is His will to bless you with that thing, go back and ask Him to tell you the truth. Go to Him and ask Him to tell you how much He loves you in that area one more time. He is so willing.


The other thing that stuck out to me was the fact that He turns our wilderness into a garden like Eden. Eden was full of life. Everything they needed was there; no lack. In that garden, they ate from the Tree of Life. This was what sustained them. It's the reason that God had to have angels stand guard at the entrance when He kicked them out. If they had access to the Tree of Life, they would have lived forever. Today we have access to that Tree. His name is Jesus. When He comes in to our wilderness, He brings life. Verse three says that in that place we will find joy, gladness, thanksgiving and sound of a melody. 


Sound of a melody. 


I'm listening.


If you need hope; if you need comfort, look to the Tree of Life. Listen for His melody. 

Me In A Nutshell

Hi friends! Sorry that it's been a while since I've posted on here. I thought I would take the opportunity to tell you a little about me (assuming you don't know me from Adam, lol). I am a wifey of one, Dave Nelson. Someday I'll tell you our story. He is my knight in shining armor. My BFF. The most amazing Daddy to our kiddos. And a really good kisser. ;) I am also a mommie to three beautiful babies. Sophie is 5, Micah is 3 and Noah is almost 17 months. They never cease to amaze me.

I am not a supermom. There are many things I need to work on and I don't hide that fact. You will hear nothing but the realness on this blog. For example, I don't enjoy cleaning, and therefore I rarely do it. If you come to my house, you will experience this. LOL. There are days that I really enjoy staying at home with my tribe and other days I'm pulling my hair out desperate to fly away on a magic cloud that takes me anywhere but here. Writing a blog like this should probably take less than an hour but it will probably take me the rest of the day because in between sentences I am pulled away for, "I need some juice", "Mommie, let's do a fun craft", "Whaaaaa!!! Hold you!!!" (That one is happening right now, actually.) But even with all the lack of sleep, the puffy eyes, the "mom hair" (you know what I'm talking about), and the, "Mom! Micah hit me!", I love being a mommie to my little people.

I have many hats that I wear. I think women do that often. I am a singer, an actor, and a freelance makeup and hair artist. It has been a while since I have been able to use my acting skills but I will always love and appreciate that art. I try to help out my favorite theater company, the Tennessee Women's Theater Project, when I can. I started doing freelance makeup and hair for weddings and photoshoots about three years ago, though I've been a makeup artist for about 12 years now. It has been a wonderful way to get out of the house and be creative and make a little money as well; a true blessing from the Lord. If I had to choose one creative outlet to focus on for the rest of my life, it would have to be music. I don't claim to know everything about music. I'm only just learning to play the guitar. I can read music but very very slowly. I love to write songs but I can only write them in my head and then pray that an instrumentalist can hear my vision when I sing it for them. But I love to sing. Singing is like breathing for me. It comes naturally. And I am fully aware that it is a gift from God. I will be forever grateful. I'm not sure what the Lord wants to do with my voice in the long run but right now I use it to bless Him by leading worship at my church and I just finished my first EP. The greatest joy for me would be to worship with angels in Heaven. Oh, what a glory; what a song!

I grew up in the church. My dad was a pastor. I'm learning to change the way I speak about that. It is too easy to say, "Yeah, I was a PK. We're the worst, you know. That's why I was so rebellious." And maybe that's true, but what is also true is that I got wonderful teaching about the Bible and about Jesus and that teaching ignited a love for the Lord and a longing to know more about Him. I have a wealth of the Word in my spirit and the Lord used my father to put it there. I am so thankful for that.

In the last year the Lord has blessed me beyond words with revelation of His love and acceptance. The Holy Spirit has done what only He can do and that is to unveil the loveliness of Jesus and His finished work on the cross. I'm living in the truth of grace; in His abounding love. It has changed everything (and continues to change me). The more I look at Jesus, the more I see myself like Him. In this blog you will hopefully read words that are filtered through grace: the unmerited favor of God through Jesus and His finished work. I have been set free from the law and I no longer wish to return. My prayer for the one who reads this blog is that you would be filled with all wisdom and understanding in the knowledge of Christ and that you would truly know how high, how deep and how wide is the love of God for you. Thank you for taking this journey with me. The ride might be bumpy at times but it will be fun!