Punting in Oxford

Saturday I got to experience another truly British activity. :) Punting! 

I was privileged to go with people from the church I have been attending. 

We took turns actually being the punter. 

(the person wielding the long metal pole that steers & moves the boat)

It was a perfect day. The sun was out, we laughed a lot and it gave me so much joy!

Some information

Under the tab above entitled "To Pray", there are prayer requests that I am trying to keep current. 

I really do need your prayers all the time, but especially now as I am seeking to be healthy emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually.

There are ways you can connect with me under the tab entitled

 "To Connect" . 

And if God prompts you to help financially, you can go to the tab entitled

"To Give" 

 On a rare day in Birmingham when it wasn't raining, a friend took me to a nearby park. It was lifegiving to my soul.

The letter I sent out about how I am doing...

To explain why I am not often posting on here, I want to share with my readers the letter I just sent out. If you did not receive this letter and you want to receive things like it, you need to sign up here http://eepurl.com/Og4V

here is the letter:

Dear Ones,
You have not heard much from me the past month or so. I need to explain why.

It takes a lot of emotional energy to write an episode of Melissa’s Musings, to update my blog, to update prayer requests, to update statuses on Facebook...

And a lot of emotional energy is not what I have right now. I am dealing with some severe depression and exhaustion. The past few years have been very hard physically, emotionally and mentally.

My bosses, John and Ruth, have given me leave from actually working with them until at least September. My job right now is to get healthy. I need to remember who God has made me to be, with healthy boundaries, healthy patterns and a healthy outlook on life.

I know that I am in the hands of the Lord and I am grateful that this time is available for me to be healthier. But it is not easy and I am easily drained by normal activities.

I have had to make some choices and changes for this time. I am going off of Facebook until September; I am only doing one errand or meeting with people a day. I am keeping a day or 2 with no needed activities planned so I can recharge I am not setting an alarm in the morning. I am trying to get 30 minutes of activity a day and I am trying to eat normal meals. It is all I have energy for.

You all know that I am generally an extrovert but right now I am much more of an introvert.

It seems that moving to Birmingham, UK to work is the thing I needed to have space to heal. I recently went onto some anti depression medication and the healthcare system here requires counseling along with the medication.

I am meeting with a good Christian counselor. She is American but has lived in the UK for many years after having served with her family as missionaries in another foreign country.

I appreciate and covet your prayers specifically for me in this time. I welcome any encouragement but please do not worry if I don’t respond as sometimes I have energy and sometimes I do not.

Trusting the Lord in this process,
-Melissa

The path I follow

I was walking down a pathway the other day and as I looked ahead I thought... That view looks like a good metaphor for my life right now. I know I am on the right path, and it is nice when I look up but rocky when I look down. And I know it leads to where I want to go but I cannot yet see the destination