in Christ ALONE, my hope is found

Well friends, here we go! Today, I'm heading to Tyler to begin my journey with the Pine Cove Forge. I have a tiny little minuscule idea about what to expect, but in reality I have no idea what I'm getting myself into. In getting ready to leave many of my friends have been asking me, "so what are you looking forward to the most?" or "what do you really hope that you get out of the Forge?" and I have a general answer for them... but really I'm trying so so so so hard to go into this with no expectations. Now, let me stop you for a second. I didn't say LOW expectations... I know and fully hope that God will do big things in my life. I've been praying for months that God will do a lot in my heart and totally renew my mind to what his purpose is for me. But really, I don't know what that might look like. It could be that I have an incredible group of friends to constantly challenge me and teach me about the things in my heart that need changing. Or I could have 8 months where God puts me in a lot of uncomfortable places and in a place of loneliness or ALONEliness to focus on him. I'll be honest, I really hope for great community and close friendships but I try and try and try to not put that expectation there. We'll see.

I hope that you will keep up with me, or browse over this way every now and then to see what God is up to in my life. and I REALLY hope that I'm able to update my blog consistently!
 If you want to actively be part, I ask for your prayers. My biggest prayers are for:
-brokenness.  I know that there is a lot of junk in my life that needs dealing with, and no lie I'm scared to be vulnerable. But praise God for grace and people to point out my sin.
- direction. Yeah, God might not directly shout my next step to me... but I pray that I will learn more about the calling that He has placed on my life. Who knows where I'll be headed this time next year? Well. God does.
- opportunity. I'll be honest, I'm not very gifted at taking opportunities to share the gospel. I love to serve, but I really need to get better at serving in the name of Christ and using my willingness to serve as a genuine testimony. I want to fall in love with the gospel again, so much so that I can't help but share it with others in my life.
- finances. God has provided so much already, and I'm just blown away by how willing people are to invest in the lives of others. Seriously, its incredible. I know that God will provide the rest of my need, which is still at a little over $3000. In some ways that number looks huge, but when I think about the nearly $8,000 that has already been provided for... I'm so humbled. So. Pray that God will speak clearly to the hearts of my friends and family that might be interested in joining my financial support team! An overwhelming thank you to those of you who have already given to me so generously, I'm so grateful and appreciative of each and every one of you!


so those are my prayers and hopes.... I hope that you guys will pray alongside of me!

Part of our Forge requirement is too read the entire Bible all the way through. At first this seemed SO incredibly overwhelming and was one of my big-time anxieties about doing the Forge. How silly, even considering to let something like that keep me from this opportunity. and then the heavens parted and I was given the gift of structure! Oh how I love structure. The teensy tiny beaver in my soul rejoices. This year our Forge class is using the Horner bible reading system. So far, I am really really liking it for many reasons.
a. its 10 chapters a day, consistently. thats a completely manageable amount to read in less than an hour.
b. i read a little bit from 10 different sections of the bible every day, so I can't get too bored with one section for very long.
c. i'm getting to see connections across the text that I haven't seen before.... like when job and corinthians and psalms line up about the same topic all in one day. i love it.
d. i'm getting little tastes of books I haven't touched in years, much less read the whole book.
e. Matt sent us a checklist. Again, the tiny beaver is pleased.

If you are like me and feel a little dry on your knowledge of the bible and how the books interact with each other, I would LOVE for you to join us and read through the whole bible in 250 days. I know, sounds crazy but once you start.... its like eating Pringles.... the fun don't stop. thrilling, I know.

If you would like to be a dear and send me mail while I'm living in Tyler, my new address is:

Lacey Melinder
c/o Pine Cove Forge
PO BOX 9055
Tyler, TX 75711

seem familiar? yeah, its the same address you lovely friends have sent camp mail to over the years....

the PLAN is that I will be keeping up with life details and exciting things on this blog, hopefully with pictures and videos to prove that I'm alive. KEY WORD: PLAN. Please don't revolt and poke me to death on facebook if there aren't ever-consistent updates. Nothing hurts more than death by facebook poke. I promise to update and inform when I can!


in other news:
my family has moved to Highlands, Texas! My Dad was just voted in as the new senior pastor of Highlands First Assembly of God and we moved there last week. Normally, I would have thought that my parents had completely lost their minds, but after being here for everything... its so obviously God. Highlands is very very very different than where we have grown up our whole lives, which is a little scary but I know that will be nothing but a good thing when the initial shock wears off. We really like ou house, its a parsonage from the church and I think its my favorite house that we've ever lived in. It immediately felt like home.... without even settling in. This move was strange for me because it marked a very significant separation for me. I know that this place will not ever be a big part of my life... Its my parent's home. not mine. Not for any other reason than I now need to go off and have my adult life. I mean, I don't have a room there. It just makes sense. I'm so thrilled for them, if you know my parents you know that this has been a long time coming and is SUCH an answer to my prayers over the last four years. I could just cry thinking about it. in a good way... not a "oh my gosh we live in a place that Baytown is the nearest 'big' city" kind of cry.

my summer was a strange one, but here's a little highlight reel for kicks.


summer 2010 limbo from lacey melinder on Vimeo.