give thanks

i am grateful for the opportunity to be a mother to my sweet son.

i am grateful for the blessing and joy Elijah brings into my life.

i am grateful for my wonderful husband who works so hard and sacrifices so much for our little family.

i am grateful for my parents, in-laws, and whole family for the love & support they continually show us.

i am grateful for good friends that stick by me no matter what.

i am grateful for my education and that i was able to finish after having my son.

i am grateful for our cozy, little apartment with free heat {even if it does look like an old lady’s house..}

i am grateful for programs that help us put food on our table and pay our bills.

i am grateful for the amazing opportunities i have had working with StrongerMarriage.org and with Ashley. it truly has been a dream come true!

i am grateful for all of my little successes, including this little blog of mine.  it is truly incredible how far it’s come and i still can’t believe it! thanks to all of you for your support!!

and most importantly
i am grateful for the gospel. because without it, i wouldn’t be the person i am today or have the opportunities i have had.
everything that has happened in my life, i know it is because of the Lord.

 

linking up here.

and Casey’s blog here.

 

:::p.s. you can find me here and here this week!

Sea Change

I had the opportunity to review the book Sea Change by Jeremy Page.

It is a book about a man’s search for peace & happiness after a terrible tragedy. He sails the North Sea for 5 years, writing in his diary what his life might have been if the accident didn’t happen.
It is a very powerful story!
{in my opinion}

I have to admit though, after the first heart-stopping chapter,
{seriously cried! well, I cried multiple times but especially that time}
the book went downhill a little bit and it was hard to pick back up again.
The rest of the first half was kind of slow for me and left me with too many questions to really appreciate the slow-pace of the book.

But by the second half, I couldn’t put the book down again.
What I love about this book is that it captures the process of overcoming a tragedy in a very real & understanding way. It doesn’t sugar coat how someone might really handle a tragic incident (at least, maybe how I might handle a tragic incident). I could relate to him all to well. Actually, I think everyone could relate to him!

It was a very emotional book for me, hitting on all of my greatest fears as a wife & a mother.

One passage I loved and I wanted to share is when Guy is talking about the birth of his daughter:
“When Freya was born, and she was that little warm squashy body all covered in vernix, with an ancient screwed-up face, she, she became everything—instantly. I loved that. I loved handing my life over like that, being less important, and then learning about her—this thing that’s arrived in your life, complete with her own character. You know, seeing parts of her mind emerge, how she viewed the world. […] I didn’t want to give up on that really beautiful, really simple thing of watching a life grow.”

I really loved that passage and how he explains becoming a parent so perfectly!!
I would recommend this book as it teaches a great lesson about overcoming struggles & finding hope and love in the end.

I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own.

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also!
the SHINE necklace winner was
#57: Just the Two of Us

CONGRATULATIONS!!
look for an email from me soon
:)

guest post: Melanie Cantelmo

My name is Melanie and I have a little blog over here.

I am married with three beautiful, yet busy children.

I started blogging to share with my grandparents all that their great grandchildren were up to.

I ended up realizing that I can use my blog as a means bless and encourage others. I hope I am able to be an encouragement to you today.

I was on a long drive home to Phoenix from a wedding up in Flagstaff. My mind was racing with things I had to do. Prepare for a research paper, get the laundry done, go grocery shopping, find a babysitter for Thursday night, and look into new daycares for my daughter.

My new normal was a constant feeling of being overwhelmed.

At the time I was a single mom to a beautiful two year old, Grace.

I just finished my bachelors and went straight to starting my masters in counseling. The workload was overwhelming, but this was my dream. I wanted to be a counselor since as long as I could remember.

I did not want to give it up.

As I started processing all that I needed to do, I heard a small voice saying, “Melanie, slow down.” If you know me, you know I tend to go full speed ahead. I hate slowing down. I hate being still and I hate listening.

Listening to that small voice was the best thing I ever did.

Have you ever been there?

You know, the crossroads where you need to reevaluate your current situation? Maybe it was leaving a bad relationship or switching schools. Whatever it was or is, crossroads are hard.

It’s hard to know which way to go.

When I got home, I decided to drop out of school.

With working full time and getting my masters degree, I rarely saw my daughter. Grace was more important to me than a degree and I knew that I needed to make these years count.

Shortly after I quit my masters program; I landed a job in social services.

I was excited to get the job because this would give me the real life experience I desperately needed.

The reason I wanted to be a counselor was to help people who have lost hope. This job would have me help people who were in desperate need of hope.

For years I have worked in this field. Walking along side of mothers with drug addictions, fathers in gangs, children removed from what they knew as love, sisters with eating disorders, brothers with psychotic disorders and the list goes on.

Many times I would sit and color with a child who had recently been removed from their home because their parent murdered someone.

At times I would question why God would allow so much suffering.

I went into this field to offer hope to others.

I ended up leaving with more than I could ever give.

I now have a thankful heart for the beautiful

(yet not perfect) family that I have.

I now have a love for people who are wounded.

I now see people with a "disorder" as a human being created in the image of God.

I now can offer grace to people that so desperately need it.

I am starting to see people how God sees people.

I have to admit, it wasn’t hard to leave my job to stay home with my family this past April.

I knew that this was the path that I needed to take.

I knew that my children needed me.

My husband needed me.

I needed time to renew my spirit.

If I never listened to that small voice on that long drive home;

I would have missed the journey that God wanted to take me on.

Thank you for taking the time to hear some of my story.

Feel free to stop by my place in blog land over here and introduce yourself. I love meeting new friends and hearing your story.

Thank you, Megan for allowing me to share some of my life with your friends. You are a blessing to me!

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i am so grateful Melanie took the time to share a little bit of her story! when she first told me what her degree was in, i knew that we were soul sisters. her story is so amazing and inspirational how she learned to love others, and more importantly, how she learned to love and appreciate her family even more.

thank you so much, Melanie, for sharing your wonderful message!!