Love YOURSELF the way you are......

So as i have sat here and thought about the reason i started this blog i cant help but truly believe that its done excatly what i had hoped it would do...Inspire me to be ME! I named the link "inspiretobe" because i was just that .... inspired, by  many very special people that God blessed me with having in my life! I wanted to start something that would help remember and reflect on times through out my life... bad and good, happy or sad! I wanted something that would always remind me of what i went through and why i am now the person i am because of those things. As many of you know i am a strong believer in the fact that your past and your hardships make you who you are, as i ve stated in several of my post BUT i  also believe that even those good memories make you who you are too... those memories that you can replay in your head over and over and they never get old... those breathtaking moments that only keep you wanting  coming back for more! Life is such a beautiful and amazing wonder ... and i hope that we can all keep sight in the fact that just being alive is a SIGNIFICANT blessing! I am someone that thinks with my heart in everything that i do! some admire that some say that its a road to many heartaches... maybe it is! but its ME! I am also someone that relates to everyone in some kinda of way... as i was on the phone with my best friend ellen tonight she reminded me that I relate to everyone in some type of emotion or another... and she is right but thats the side of me that i know God has called on me to do for the rest of my life ... Counsel. I am also someone that doesnt confuse words much... i tell you what i think, my mother has always told me i am brutually honest.. i figure well mine as well cut out all the sugar coating and tell people what they want to hear which is the truth believe it or not ..one day they will appreciate the honesty. I dont go for anything less than i deserve and i hate to see anyone settle. no one deserves that in any aspect of their life.... kids and people in need are my passion... I never want to "fix" or "change" anyone in need of anything in their life I just want to HELP them and with God next me i know that i can do just that for anyone he brings to me to do so with. I consider myself a fence rider.. i see both sides to everything.. bc what you have to realize is that there is always both sides to peoples feelings but the things i feel strongly about on EACH side of the fence I NEVER back down from... I am a girl who knows excatly what she wants in life.... I am also a girl that has a problem with not always knowing my next move or puzzle piece to life .. but just recently God has been showing me thats ok and that i better be ok with it bc thats his way regardless! I ve learned that if you want to hear God laugh just write down all your plans in life.. and give him the eraser bc he will or has already erased some of your plans you had for yourself... I prayed for patience and trust in God and i believe he has stuck me in just a situation that has brought me just the opprotunity to do BOTH.... you see i believe whole heartly thats what he does.. he doesnt just give you what you ask for he gives you the chance to obtain those things.... like for instance patience and trust!

I could go on and on about all the things I am and why and how ... and what I ve been through in life to make me become that way bc today and even this weekend i ve thought about this a lot.... but the ONE thing I know i am for sure is a daughter to a WONDERFUL God thats Grace is overflowing and his love never runs out for me! He will always love me for ME! He will always provide and his word is the truth and will always prevail! I have to constantly remind myself that he knows what he is doing up there.. and you just have to TRUST. And when your given opprotunities ... Take them.. throw yourself out there and be YOU ... your uniqness is what makes you different from everyone else... as the Dr Suess saying goes... "Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”..... so I encourage everyone to be you... Fall in love with life and know that everyday holds the possibility of a miracle... stop waiting and start doing with your life.. bc after all it is your life...its your time to shine.. for everyone that walks out of your life...bless them bc they are only making room for those that walk into your life...realize that your happiness will always play hide and seek with you if you look for it in all the wrong places...dont be scared to be different.. authenicity is something i ve always thought  as a trait to be admired....Consider the fact that your trials maybe your treasure....never live in your past....people only cling to the past out of fear that nothing else better will come along, and thats so far from the truth....choose to forgive those that have hurt you... you take away their power .... and when the past calls press ignore it has nothing new to say ...  never take no for an answer when your going after something you love ....... and  make no apologies for what you ARE and for what your NOT.

So Inspire to be you... just you, whoever that maybe never let a soul in the world tell you that you cant be excatly who you are! Take chances and BE YOU when you do... and trust God .... he is always there.

" A joyful heart makes a cheerful face"-Proverbs 15:13
Smile and be you and have Joy in your heart that he Loves you for YOU!

YMel

Warm,comfy,and Cozy....

I feel like i ve been dealing with hypotherma all day! This has been the first real day that its been cold in Mississippi which is great for me bc i love having warm days in December, unlike most of the people i know... but then again thats why i love Mississippi... anyways so now i am in my Warm covers,Comfy pjs, and I am Cozy with my coffee mug in hand- full of hot chocolate...so when i got in bed... i got to thinking about the meaning of Warm,comfy,and cozy... and everyone that knows me knows that i am a deep thinker maybe sometimes too much... but what does it really mean to be warm,comfy,and cozy?! For some its sitting next to a fireplace, sleeping under a heated blanket, or sitting next to a bonfire. For me it means a lot of things for instance.. what i am doing now in warm blankets, comfy pjs, and cozy in my bed, other times i get that feeling as i jump into a warm car thats been heated after being outside, sometimes its stepping into my house after i ve been running in the cold, and other times its putting on that big favorite sweatshirt of mine with my favorite scarf and UGG boots!

Regardless we all have things that make us feel warm,comfy,and cozy inside! Webster says the defintion of comfy is :

comfy-providing or experiencing physical well-being or relief

So the real question is what makes us comfy, who do we like to get comfy with, and most importantly who or what do we turn to to make us comfy?... I am sure most of you are thinking "Melissa where are you getting at with this?" but think on it and ponder it!

Do you know that there is one person who would love for you to turn to him and say "Ok make me comfy,warm,and cozy!" and that person is our God... God is the one person who we are suppose to rely on to make us warm,comfy,and cozy..and in his arms we can never feel cold or frigid. I think about this and it really kinda makes me sad... why? because i feel like lately i ve lost the feeling of that comfy warmth that God brings. I feel like sometimes i am going outside without that big comfy sweatshirt,scarf,and UGG boots and i am just running around outside never coming inside for relief or better yet i am running circles around that car thats heated while its below freezing! as I stated in my last post my family has been going through a rough time! With the loss of many things including a very significant family member... i had mentioned to a friend the other day how i feel like i ve been praying and i just feel like i am not feeling Gods warmth like usual! and it finally dawned on me that i am  not running to that warm car or warm house anymore (God) -- i am running to unsignificant things like other people or things to give me comfort!

I feel like many of us do that a lot! A great example is my childhood pet that I had for 16 years, Abby! She was the cuttest lil dachsund you had ever seen...  that dog was my baby... i loved her beyond words and still do! But when momma use to bring the clothes out of the dryer to fold them she would run straight to that pile of warm clothes because she liked the warmth of it! As christians thats what we should do! When God holds out those big comfy arms of his we should run right to them and let him comfort us and take all of our fears,griefs, and sad moments away! The difference between warm clothes and God is that eventually those warm clothes start to become not so warm and Mom only washes and drys clothes every so often where God is always there and always willing to take your fears away and wants to COMFORT YOU!!!

Let him! I am learning more and more everyday that you have to let God in! You have to lean on him and expect him to keep you warm,comfy, and cozy! The minute you start relying on anyone else or anything else he will take that away from you and you will be left in the cold! He died for US! He loves us uncondionally! I use to play with my mom and dad when i was little by saying " I know someone who loves me more than you do?" ofcourse its followed by "who?" .. and i would say "GOD"... and thats so true.. think about the one person you love the most and  it could never amount up to how much God loves you and that person!

I, myself have got to learn to start relying on God to fix everything and realizing God will provide!! He will provide that comfort and bring us that warmth.. and in return we will feel cozy! I am beyond blessed with the people God has put in my life.. so i know regardless i am never alone and that I have people i can turn to and that I will turn to when troubles come my way or my family's way! But i know he will not leave us out in the cold.. he wont lock the doors to that warm house or warm car.... as long as we call on him he will always be there to give you that warmth!

So next time your outside and your cold and you finally get to step into that warm place... remember to always step into Gods arms too and there you will find that warmth and comfort... dont live your life not trusting God! so let me leave you with this bible verse...which says we do not have to worry go to God about everything and you will have that warm, comfy, and cozy place within Gods arms! He will provide and will take care of you!

 "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all that He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

 

So the next time a challenge is coming your way or you feel yourself in the cold remember to bundle up in Gods armour and know that in his arms you will stay warm!

I love you all!

YMelissa

A Christmas Cure for Cynicism and Skepticism

Friday I arrived home for christmas break... after a long and hard semester! Once finals rolled around i was almost to the point of not caring anymore! How i made it through is by the "Grace of God"... ever heard someone say that nonchalanty? I have more, and i am guilty of doing it also... i have said it more times than i can count.. but it wasnt until this morning that I can really tell you i learned just what the "Grace of God" really was. You know those times that you dont deserve something but you get it? thats Gods grace or those times that you feel like you are going to drown in an ocean full of all the mistakes you have made but some how you make it to shore safe and dry? ... well thats Gods Grace too.
My family and I are going through a rough time and have been for the past couple of of weeks and even months. So when I got in my car today to head to church I asked God "Lord tell me something you want me to know".... because as Sinners we get to caught up in asking God for the things we want in life and not enough of what he wants out of us. Well God sure did answer that prayer this morning! I met my bestfriend Ellen at church this morning.. we went about our regular routine of meet and greet and then on to the front row we go! ... church started off with the Childrens Message.... the children gathered around and sat to listen to the young man explain the difference about Gods grace ( the full bottle of water) and the opposite of Gods grace ( the half empty one) he demonstrated to the kids that Gods grace is always full in abundance where as anything else is not! ... i thought wow! how true!... but it wasnt until Mr. Steve came up to preach that it really clicked to me how great and amazing Gods grace is. he started off the sermon with asking two questions.. what is grace and what is the truth!

1.Grace- is something that we dont derserve
2.Truth- what is truth and can we find it within people!
- are we truthful no matter what?-- and do we keep our word no matter how much it hurts us?

What is the Problem with Grace and truth?
* we all become so cynical and so skepitcal that we lose touch of theses and make substitutes?
what could those subsitutes be? --> local bars,intimate relationships
everyone wants an intimate relationship but we cant give up on what we believe or derserve due to the fact that we just want physical touch or love to make us feel loved. Rely on God to give you that intimate relationship .. have an intimate relationship with Christ Jesus!
But Grace is having enough love to overlook the flaws of someone you love but being able to say Stop! I love you etc. if you see something going on that shouldnt! Dont become apart of a church that will love you straight to hell and that also stands true for the people you surround yourself by! ( surround yourself with other Godly people)

Truth- we need security... we want the truth! (Naturally as humans)
what do we use as substitutes or this? --- information we live in a world full of information BUT it is not the truth of age and the information we are looking at on the internet or any other source will  not help us to make valued judgements.

We are emersed in a world where God and Truth can not be found!!! so whats the soultion:

this is : "and the world became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the father, full of grace and truth"- John 1: 14

Grace and Truth has found us through the holy spirt who is perfectly made.

God is Grace --- he is full of it!
Grace and Love is real----look at the Cross!! what does that say?
God is full of truth-- he says " I am full of truth"

We all just need alot more Jesus with that we will be full of grace and truth in balance of one another.

Do not surrender to cynicism or skeptimism surrender to God: look for love and acceptance in God and not in any other of those wrong places! and dont look for truth in all the "information places" look for it in God!

                   HE IS FOREVER FAITHFUL IN HIS PROMISES
This sermon was something I know i really needed to hear from God and I am praying continually that his grace and truth will be upon my family in this trialing time that we are going through!!!! Thanks to all that have keep my family and I in your prayers... I know eventually God will provide!

Go for what you deserve

ok girls.... so this post is for you my friends!!!....Most girls walk around in life thinking that at the age of 21 or 22 they will have that special someone that they want to spend the rest of their lives with (and if not we are in trouble).... and that he will be tall, dark, and handsome yall will have a nice sweet and welcoming home with 2 or 3 adorable children.. but wait i may be getting ahead of myself here... first comes the wedding.. A wedding is something that every girl dreams of and has been planning for years now.. and still plans up in till the day she walks down the aisle and says I DO! .... but i wonder if maybe us girls fantasize about it a little too much ... i know i am guilty of it also... i think that sometimes we are all so in a hurry  to  find that MR. RIGHT, plan that big bagging wedding ,and opps there we go married!!! NO longer SINGLE... a lot of girls search for that "together status" so much that I think that we forget what we deserve!


I encourage you to sit and think about what you derserve... just within this semester  i know that i have had atleast 2 handfuls of conversations on "guys", "mr perfects", and "is he the one?"... with my sorority sisters alone. Girls ... Go for what you deserve.. do not persue a guy that only gives you half of what you deserve!
Now this is coming from someone who was never single throughout highschool and came to college with a boyfriend.... i ve always been the kinda girl to jump into one relationship and  into another. all i can say is i lived and learned... i wish i could take some of those moments back.. but then again as i said i ve learned from them. Since i ve been single i pick up and realize on how I at once was just living in a fantasy land... thinking oh.. me and him--> we are going to get married.. sure there are tons of things i despise about him and sure he doesnt always treat me right.. but ill change him!! lesson number 1... if you with a guy and want to change him... run!!!! your never going to change a guy... you are suppose to  love and accept him for who he is .. and if he has ways about him you cant live with.. its time to say adios!!! Never settle for a guy that you feel like doesnt respect you, adore you, or give you all the things that money cant by .. like a friendship.. a sholder to cry on when you have had a bad day, someone to take care of you when you have a little to much fun, and someone that goes out and has a little too much fun with you,  and all the love in the world that means more than anything you have ever imagined!  Make sure your guy is someone that you can have a blast with!


I am someone that can speak from expirence with this one! i am someone who tries to see the best in EVERYONE.. i accept everyones flaws.. even when i shouldnt and i try to help everyone!!! I have been talked to ugly, mistreated, and even cheated on...by the last of the 2 guys I ve been with!!! NO MORE!!!
Me and God have talked a lot on this topic! I deserve the best! I deserve someone that is going to love, adore me, want me fore me, and loves everything about me good and bad traits and accepts me for me! And VISE VERSA!!!


I ve realized that i have a whole lot to offer to whom ever God brings in my life!!! He may be someone i know or not... but God says a ton in the bible about a marriage and what it should be in the eyes of our God and i trust that.  You see girls you need someone that can be all those things i ve listed above and more... you need someone that Loves our God just as much as you do.. you need someone you can pray with .. and someone you can hold accountable and someone that can hold you accountable!


PRAY PRAY PRAY... girls prayer is the only communication we have with our God!! Pray that God will bring you the perfect someone you want.. that someone that can be all you ever wanted and more!!! We need to as a whole quit focusing on that deep southern traditon that says" Go to college meet your husband get married, and lived happily ever after"...great if it happens to you or someone you know but dont live your day to day life thinking.. i ve got to go out and find that someone!!! Live your life, be you, be content, figure out who you are, and figure out what you want! quit telling God what you want and start asking him what does he want from you... and who does he want you to meet and fall in love with!!!


you have to respect yourself in order for others to respect you.. and the moment you settle you will be unhappy!!! So girls... before you run and hurl yourself into a relationship just bc you want that status of "togetherness" make sure he is someone you get to know.. more importantly someone you want to know, and someone you will be proud to say "he is mine.. he loves and adores me" and something that he can say the same about you!!! ;) girls just live you life and remember to be yourself and be content!! let God do the work!!!


Love you all!

This Weekend = a blurrrrrrrr

So first and foremost i just want to thank all of you who have kept my family and I in your prayers with the recently loss of my great grandfather! I do believe that prayers have been heard and they are very much appreciated! Saturday (yesterday) my family and I gathered to celebrate the life and remember the Pa we love so dearly!!! Its now been 4 days since he has been gone and I dont think I could ever be anymore thankful to have been apart of his life the more I think about him! We all have our moments... one min i am happy and others i selfishly cry wishing he didnt have to go.... but its something we all have to go through.. and in return i am so glad that it all  went as it did! ..... yesterday was hard!!! some days will be eaiser than others... and i am sure ill have many moments of crying soon to come to... they will come and go also as life goes on! But the love he showed towards us and his big happy smile will be etched in my heart forever, and the sound of his voice and all the thing he said will continously replay throughout my life!

Late afternoon yesterday my family and I arrived in Oxford to go GROVIN with some of our close friends... it was by far one of the most enjoyable "grove" games we have had!!! Bc it sure wasnt an enjoyable football game! I got to see many of my STATE friends, and that I was happy about! I was also able to get back to all my sisters in Oxford who all greated me with huge hugs and lots of love, which i needed!!! Since the football was so pathetic I really dont have much to say besides... Maybe next year??? I still love the Rebels so much!!!! as hard as they make it for us to love them!!!!

Maidee Parker and I with one of our Besties Jordan ! She came to visit from State!!!

Today was a typical lazy Sunday!!! Napped and prepared for this week!!.....We had our First night of Big/Lil!!! So  I am hoping she loved all of her SPA stuff tonight!!!! I am sure trying to get back on a regular schedule this week will be hard, but I am praying for Gods grace to be with me and my family as we go about this!!! Thanks once again to all who have been there for me through this time!!.. I love yall!

"A joyful heart makes a cheerful face"- Proverbs 15:13

Richard William Ivy

Today my Pa went to be with our Lord after 86 wonderful years. To know him was to love him. He had the biggest heart and all the love in the world to spread around. He had a zest for life that was so undescribable.. and his family was his biggest asset. He loved his family beyond words and he was loved in return by the wonderful family he started. As I think about the long and wonderful life that he lived I cant help but to cry tears of joy, and then I cant help but to stop in my tracks and thank God for blessing me so much by putting one of the greatest men ill ever know in my life.

I asked and prayed to God so many times that if anything, I could see him before he decided to take him home to be with him.. God answered that prayer x10! I was so very thankful that I could be able to spend his last few moments here with us next to him! and thats what I did every time i was with him i held his hand and told him how much he was loved and when able to he would always say "I love you too hun"!........ You see all of our hearts are hurting right now but we have to remember that life is a puzzle.. a puzzle that God puts together and he has the whole picture of our life puzzle where as we only get one piece at a time.... Pa had a huge puzzle filled with so many memories with his wife of 69 years, his 3 children, 9 grandchildren, and 17 great grandchildren. The last piece of his puzzle was put in today.... and i am so thankful i was there! Today as i was outside swinging on Ma and Pa's swing on their front porch i thought about the puzzle piece he first started with on September 12, 1924 when he was born.. to the puzzle where he met his sweetheart and lifelong partner that fit together next to piece on the day they got married. The puzzle pieces he had all throughout his time as he served in the Navy in WWII. All 4 pieces of his puzzle of all the babies he had along with his first son that they lost at birth... that soon followed all of his grandchildren to great grandchildren... and all the pieces that fall in between of fishing memories with his son and grandchildren,and all the puzzle pieces of the memories he made with Ma talking out in their yard that they enjoyed so much together and watching their family grow.  Even though his puzzle is now completed and he is up in heaven being an amazing new guardian angel to all of us I speak for myself and I know i am  safe to speak for my family when i say so many of our puzzle pieces that have already been put together contain so many memories with Pa in them  and that big ole smile that would melt your heart.

 My Ma is so extremely strong and one heck of a woman...As she sat there and said her goodbyes to him this morning she looked up and said " I had always prayed he would go first so i could take care of him, because there is no way i could ever repay him for taking care of me the way he has all these years". Pa did just that he never let her worry about a thing, he loved her unconditionally, and wanted nothing more than to make her happy!

 For many of you that know me.. yall know that Lady Antabellum is my all time favorite country group... My favorite song of theirs is "When you got a good thing"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3Juxpf4_v0, a song i ve always thought I would want played at my own wedding because i always said it would describe just how me and the future husband that God has in store for me will be.. tonight as I driving alone in my car the song came on... I looked at it in a whole diffrent way... It describes my Ma and Pa to a T everything the lyrics say paint a perfect picture of their relationshp! Seeing the way they had such a GOOD THING only makes me look forward to the man God has in store for me.  How he treated, loved, and adored my Ma... shows me excatly what i deserve in my future! Him and Ma had so much to offer to one another and that they did! She loved him back just as much! He was her heart... She was his heart and  thats the way it will always be!

As the day went on and we continued to cook and go on with Thanksgiving as we normally would of as hard as it was, we knew Pa wouldnt have wanted it any other way. See before I would of believed that him passing on Thanksgiving wouldnt of been much of a memorable Thanksgiving but as i sat by his side... God spoke to me and said "This is what you have to be Thankful for" I think this was Gods way of showing all of us how precious life is! And how we should celebrate and rejoice in the fact that he was called home with his family all surrounding him! The family he loved so much and loved him in return! His hospice nurse wrote on his chart that he had one of the best nurturing,warming,and loving families she has ever seen for a patient. When i saw her today i said yep! thats right.... just as he always was to us!

On this Thanksgiving day the world,my family, and I lost one great fishermen,a devout rebel fan, a hard working father and husband, a Navy WWII veteran, and one of the sweetest hearts and kindest husband, father, uncle, grandfather,and great grandfather ANYONE COULD ASK FOR! BUT heaven sure did gain one amazing and handsome Angel that will now and forever dwell in the house of our Lord watching over us until we all arrive home too. and i can only imagine that when my day comes or anyone else in my family he will greet us as he always did by saying " Well heyyyy there sugar pie...come on in.. we sure have missed you and love you so much"!

So thanks Pa for the amazing example you were to me and all the inspiration you gave me... and for all those puzzle pieces in my life that you have made so memorable, and Thank you God for giving me such a wonderful great grandfather i could call "My Pa"

WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

The Club Cant Handle Me......

I am dedicating this post to one of my best friends in the whole wide world... Maidee Parker! Maidee is one of those girls that ummm... lets say quite unique! her sweet little smile and silly self make me grin from ear to ear every time i am around her!!! There are so many memories i have made with MPD that i could talk for hours about them . Well last Thursday was no different for me and Maidee parker with the company of about 5 other girls!We decided we were going to Roosters to celebrate the night before Thanksgiving break??? I know your thinking WTH?? right?? yeah we didnt really know either!!
Well let me just tell you, it was one hell of thanksgiving celebration alright!! and its one of those memories ill remember forever with maidee-p! Maidee messaged me today and we shared stories of what we could recall!!! Later on after talking to her  I was in my car and this song came on ... and i caught myself lmao to this song because it remineded so much of maidee and I and how we use to dance to this like fools when it came on our rush video and perfectly described us at  Roosters last Thursday!! So Maidee Parker this song is for you!!!! Thanks for giving me such a good laugh when i needed it bestie! ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgM3r8xKfGE