Meli's world

I always wondered how missionaries felt when God called them to leave the comfort of their homes, families, safety, and churches to go somewhere unknown to preach the gospel. I wondered if they were scared. I wondered what would happen if they resisted and didn't follow the calling placed before them. Four years ago after living with my parents, we were able to purchase our first home. Somehow being a homeowner at the age of 23 gave me a sense of pride. The house was an answered prayer.  A lot of sweat, hard work and tears. This house signified freedom and peace to my family and I. We all went from sharing the master bedroom in my parent's home to having the privacy we wanted as a married couple. And the kids would share a room for now. I remember thinking this was only our starter home. It wasn't in the area we envisioned and at 2 bedrooms, it was also smaller then we wanted for our family. But the numbers worked out. God opened doors and worked everything in our f...

  From a young age, I knew that beauty was not just something we exhibit with our outer appearance, but a trait, and a way to describe someone who is nice, loving, kind, and perhaps even generous. In my mind, someone beautiful was that of the likes of Miss America who was not only pretty in the physical, but usually had something like the pursuit of higher education and a talent going for them. As well as have something pleasing to say about world peace or poverty and make sure to be involved in some sort of charity work if she won. Beauty, and the image of it today is more or less the same expectation. Someone who has brains, talent, a charitable cause, and most importantly in the media today makes sure they don't say anything that would ruffle feathers or make anyone feel uncomfortable.   Growing up, Boldness was something I wanted too. I wanted to go against the crowd. Not give into peer pressure or the fads of the time. I wanted to be a rebel, speak my m...