New Way to Purchase My Music, Art, and Donate towards my Ministry

I am now on Go Fund Me:

http://www.gofundme.com/6sjvvc

Click on the link and you can donate.  You can also send your funds there if you have purchased a print or product from me!

Love you guys!

Birthday Treasure Hunt (Full Story)

It was my birthday, December 19th and I was flying home to see my family that I haven't seen in FOREVER and I was so excited.  My flight was from SFO to Traverse City, Michigan with a connecting flight in Chicago.  My layover in Chicago was already 5 hours, so when I arrived early in the morning (around 3 or 4am) I decided to sleep at my gate until my flight.

I woke up about 15 minutes before departure to realize that they had changed my gate and moved the flight from Terminal F to Terminal C!  So I started running and running.  I was so sleep deprived and when I arrived at the gate I burst into tears when I realized that they had closed the gate.  I was crying like I hadn't cried in a LONG time, like a child.  (In retrospect, I wonder if this moment allowed other things to be vented) 

The gate agent checked with the pilot (the plane was still there) but they had already run all pre-flight checks and wouldn't accept me on board.  Then my plane stood there during the whole ten minutes that this gate agent changed my flight.  Why couldn't they just let me on?!?!?!  I was SO annoyed and angry and I stormed off to go wait FIVE MORE HOURS, ugly-crying like a kid, on some bench.

Of course I updated my facebook status saying something about this being the worst birthday ever and people started encouraging me saying that maybe God had someone at the airport waiting to be blessed through me.  I called my sister and she said the same thing and it annoyed me.  I thought, 'I don't want to comfort anyone right now, I want someone to comfort me.'  Basically, I was having the most embarrassing pity party ever at 8am and am SO GLAD no one was there to actually see it. 

Anyway, as I was sitting there thoughts came to me... like... "Am I letting the enemy win?  Am I letting him steal my birthday?  What if God had someone that I could bless on my birthday?  What if we could do a treasure hunt?  Wouldn't that be fun on my birthday?  What if someone actually GOT SAVED or HEALED on my birthday?!"  And I started getting excited about the potential of the situation.

SO I told God that since my phone was dying I would pray for as long as it took my phone to charge and then I would go looking for the clues that he gave me.  I was starting to get hopeful and excited.  I even re-did my make-up and hair so that I wouldn't look scary to whoever I was talking to!!! :-) 

I just started writing down everything I heard and didn't stop to analyze it.  I started seeing that I would get different categories so I would just write on a different page or place.  I had gotten some very distinct descriptions for two elderly people later on in my list, but the first 7 clues were really specific and I wasn't sure if it was for just one young person or multiple so I decided I would just look around and see. (I'll attach a picture of the list)

The first clues I got were:

-Purple shirt

-Dread-like brown hair.  Not necessarily full dreads but close- unkempt?

-Blue or green or maybe light eyes... beautiful.

-Possibly freckles

-Black and white converse or tennis shoes

-Gray or black jeans

-Dysmorphic Body Image

-Dad issues

-Dreading Christmas

-Cat

 and on and on...

For locations I got:

McDonalds

"C"

"D"

12

1,2,3

14

So I decided to start with locations.  I thought the numbers might be gate numbers so I walked down to gate 12.  To my surprise and delight between gates 12 and 14 was the McDonalds!  But I didn't see any people to match any of the descriptions.  This whole time I am wavering between excitement and doubt.  "Am I REALLY actually going to find anyone?  These are a lot of specifics!"  So I decide to at least find my gate first (gate 7) and then go look.

So I walk down to gate 7 and I notices that gates 1-7 are in this massive semi-circle.  So from gate 7, you can see gates 1-3 (which was on my list)  So I sit down and just look towards those gates and all of a sudden, SHE walks through between gates 2 and 3!!!!

She had the purple shirt!!!!  Oh my gosh, she had the dread-like brown hair!!!!  She has tennis shoes on!  And gray jeans!!!  Oh my goodness, its her!!!!!

I start freaking out.  I don't even know what to do.  The only other times I have done treasure hunts have been with groups of people or our youth group back home!  

So I just start following her! Haha.  I'm asking God for strategy.  I'm asking him to give me a good window.  She's kind of walking through the terminal, looking at all the shops.

She goes over to a charging kiosk and plugs her phone in.  So I decide to plug my phone in right next to her.  I turned my phone face down of course, so she couldn't see that my phone was in fact, fully charged. :-)  Guess where the charging kiosk was?  RIGHT ACROSS FROM MCDONALDS, Between gates 12 and 14!!!!  (more freaking out and being amazed by God)

So I have no idea how to open the convo... "Hello, I love Jesus and I know it's weird, but I've been following you..."  NO.

So I decide to take a picture of her (also attached) because I figure even if I chicken out and don't talk to her, I would have at least the proof to myself that I DID hear from God and I found someone that God told me to find.

So I take the picture (like a crazy person) and as I'm praying for God to give me some kind of "in" to strike up conversation naturally with her, she pulls out a Nikon DSLR and starts taking pictures of people and the airport.  (I have been a professional photographer for the last 7 years.)  So I say:

"Oh, hey!  Are you a photographer?"

"Oh no, I just really love taking pictures."

"Oh cool, what kind of camera is that?  I'm actually a photographer."

"Oh no way!  That's cool"

So we chit-chat for a little about photography and then **crickets** start chirping and I feel it in my gut...like this butterfly attack is happening....

I thought the "C" or "D" might be a name so I started thinking Chloe, Cara, Caitlyn, etc... So I said, "Hey does your name start with a 'C'?"

"No."

**Crickets**  The enemy immediately says, "Fail.  Just walk away, nothing on that list is going to apply to her."  But I remembered how the description matched her EXACTLY, so I kept going....

"So hey!  This might sound weird, but it's my birthday today and I'm a Christian"

"Oh, I'm a Christian too!" she says with a smile.

"Oh great, maybe this will be easier then."  I say

And I tell her about my missed flight and my ugly-cry pity party and then I tell her that I'm growing in my ability to hear God and respond to what he tells me and that sometimes I like to go on "treasure hunts" with God, where he gives me clues about people and then I go out looking for the people he told me about.  

She is a mixture of curious, incredulous, and interested.

I go on to say that I believe God led me to her and gave me clues to find her, reading the first 6 clues on the list aloud to her, which she reacted surprised and excited to each one.  "No way!  Does it really say that!"

So clue number 7 was a little more serious... Dysmorphic body image.... and I was afraid to say that to her, so I prefaced with something like:

"Ok, so I'm just going to read through these clues, but I want you to feel completely free to say, 'Actually, that's totally not me' because I know that there are at least two other people that God gave me descriptions for, and some of these might have to do with them, so feel free to tell me if they are not you."

And she was like, "Ok cool"

"So," I said, "This next one is a little personal, but have you ever, or do you still struggle with like a dysmorphic body image?"

She instantly started to tear up.  "Um, yeah.  I still struggle with that.   I've been struggling with Body Dysmorphic Disorder since I was a teenager and I'm 30 now and it's still something I struggle with"

And I said, "Ok, well I think God wants to heal you of that today"

to which she emphatically nodded and said, "Okay!"

Then I just went down the list....and through the next 3 pages and EVERYTHING (except for the description of the old man and woman) WAS HER!!!!

My next clue was "Dad issues" and she had some unresolved issues with her dad

I asked her if she was looking forward to Christmas (it said "dreading Christmas" on the list, and I really didn't want to ask that) and at first she said yes, but then she was like,.... "Well what does it say?"

And God immediately gave me a download into why she was dreading Christmas and so I said, 

"Well it says you are 'dreading Christmas' but I feel like its more about how you are feeling this year.  You really love your family and are looking forward to being with them, but you are also dreading it because there are some tensions with your family right now and when you are around them, you don't really feel valued, seen, or have a voice"

  *WIDE EYES, NODS, "Yeah that's right..."*

I had relationship with sister written down later and I just heard 'brother' so I said, "And specifically with your sister, dad, and do you have a brother...?"  *WIDE EYES, NOD*  "Okay, so yeah, with him too?"  (More incredulous, teary nodding) 

"And also, a lot of your siblings are married and have started their families, and so often feel lonely and depressed when you are around them.."  *CRYING, NOD, "Yes, that's so true."*

She goes on to share she has several siblings but that she has been having trouble with her father, brother and one sister who recently just had a baby...

The next clue was a picture I had seen so I start describing it to her and God starts downloading as I am speaking...

"Did you dance or sing as a little girl?"

"Yes I was a ballerina for 13 years and I was involved in choirs as a kid"

"Ok, yeah because I saw this picture of you as a little girl, and you were dancing ballet on this stage and you kept looking out towards the audience because you were hoping your family was there to watch you and be proud but no one was there.   In fact, the entire auditorium was empty. (she starts tearing up again)  I don't think this is a memory.  I think this is a picture of how you feel RIGHT now, in your life. You don't feel seen and supported or valued. But as I was looking out at the auditorium, I saw that God was there and he was standing, cheering you on and clapping for you with such pride and love for you."

*CRYING, "Wow.."*

"And I feel like God is saying that no matter how you have felt, unseen and unheard that he wants you to know that HE sees you and values you and loves you.  It is his delight to watch you go after the things in your heart.  And I also feel like this dancing and singing represents a WHOLE side of yourself that you have been neglecting lately.  (*Yes, wow...that's so true.  You have no idea..*)  And that God is encouraging you to sing and dance again and go after the things that make your heart come alive.  It doesn't have to mean a career switch, but the fact that you have silenced this creative and alive part of who you are and that God just wants to encourage you to come back to that, because there is a lot of life there for you"

And she is just amazed and crying and smiling and affirming the words.

So I skip to the next page where it says, "Emotional/Spiritual Issues" and I again say the thing about her telling me if something doesn't apply to her.

"Have you been having bad dreams lately?  Like maybe the last couple of months"

"Shut up!  Does it really say that?  Yes, I have been having awful dreams"

"Ok well not after today. We can pray for that.  What about anger issues?  Specifically I see that sometimes you try not to let things bother you but it does and it builds up and then it just comes out at the strangest times and surprises you and the people that are on the other side of it."

"Wow, yeah.  That's totally accurate. It's always a complete surprise and throws ME off guard and I'm the one who's angry"

"Ok, well we will pray for that too. Have you been struggling with depression or any thoughts of suicide?" 

"Depression, yes totally.  Really bad actually.  Not suicidal thoughts though, thankfully but really bad depression."

"Ok and we already talked about your dad and sister, so we will pray for all of those things."

The last list I had was physical ailments, so I explained to her that I believed God wanted to not just touch her heart, but also her body if she had any physical pain or illness.

"Oh well actually I don't need any healing.  I don't have anything wrong with me."

"Oh, okay.  Well let me read through the list and if you know of anyone else with these, we can pray for them."

"Oh! Okay, cool!"

"Ok the first thing I wrote down was "throat" but I think this is something spiritual too because the last thing I wrote was "voice".  I think spiritually you have felt like you have no voice, and you are not heard...but i think sometimes this actually happens to you....when you really want to say something and you find that you are actually not able to.  Like its almost like right at that moment you can't actually speak"

"Yes, wow.  No, that is crazy...that happens to me all of the time"

"Ok, well we can pray for that.  The next thing is wrists... do you have pain with your wrists at all?"

"Nope."

"Anyone you know? "

"Not that I know of."

"Ok, well maybe that's for another person.  The next thing I have is "Body issues" which we already talked about and we are definitely going to pray for.  THe next thing is lower abdomen.  Do you have any pain in that area?"

"Well sometimes I have with digestion, but not right now."

"Ok well we will pray for your digestive track anyway.  Haha.  Um the next one is kind of specific, your left lower back... like right above your hip?"

"Oh my goodness!  I do have pain there!  I've had it for so long, I forgot about it!  I have chronic pain in that area."

"Ok, no worries! Jesus totally wants to heal that today! The last one I have is  your right ankle"

"NO WAY!  I just hurt that YESTERDAY!  I was hiking and I just turned or twisted it wrong..."

"Ok, well that's going to get healed too!  Do you mind if I put my hand on your ankle?"

And you know what happens next pretty much.  We prayed for ALL of it.  The physical stuff, the emotional and spiritual stuff.  God gave me words and even specific spirits to pray against. I had her break a few agreements...we walked into some lies and declared the truth over them.  I honestly, no longer worried about being "weird" because it was obvious God had miraculously opened a huge door and prepared her to receive what he had for her.  She had no more pain, and her countenance from when I first talked with her to the end was markedly different.  I told her towards the end that I thought there were 3 main things that God wanted to communicate with her and to her today.

I said, 1. You are seen.  God sees you and he loves you.  What you think and say and feel matters to him.  He wants you to know that no matter what you are feeling, that he is here.  He loves you so much.  Out of all of the people in this entire airport that he could have led me to, he led me to YOU!  Very specifically.  You just saw with your own eyes and heard with your own ears that God has you on his heart and mind and wants to talk with you and bless you.

2. He cares about your family. He is all about reconciliation and unity.  He wants you to know that he has seen how hard it has been lately with your family and he's not going to stop fighting for your family.  His heart is that you will all be restored and healthy and unified.  He is not giving up, ever.

3. I feel like God is extending an invitation to you today.  You are a Christian and I can tell that you really do believe and love God but you have also been kind of distant from him lately.  He's not upset at you and his heart towards you has not changed at all, but he's inviting you to have MORE if you want it.  I keep hearing the lyrics of that song, "If you want it, come and get it..." I saw this picture and I heard that verse where he talks about the 'banquet table laden with choice foods'... just laid out with all of this amazing food.  And I see that there is this table and it has amazing things for you on it.  And God is inviting you to come to the table and be with him  and that verse comes to mind where it says, "I stand at the door and knock.  If any man hears my voice and he opens the door, I will come in and be with him"  God has been knocking for a while, gently.  He will not barge through the door.  He's patient with you and it's your choice how close you want him to come to you, but he's inviting you to have more, and he's waiting at the door.  But no one can make that choice for you or give that to you.  Certainly not some stranger at the airport.  Haha.  It's up to you.  But know that God is inviting you to MORE.  In every area of your life.  You have a call on your life to start REALLY living....

And then she said thank you and how amazing and incredible this day has been and she can't believe how much love Jesus has for her that he would bring me to her to say all of these things to her and tell her about herself. And she said that she could tell that even I didn't realize how accurate and spot on what I was saying was, that I had "no idea" even more of the details and back story was but that everything went together and deeply touched her. Haha. And then SHE PRAYED FOR ME!!!!!!!  And she blessed me and loved on me!!!!  And we exchanged emails and took pictures of ourselves.  Haha.  It was SO amazing!!!!

One thing that really struck me besides THE OBVIOUS all of the above, was how quickly God wooed my heart from devastation and distress into complete JOY and freedom.  It completely reminds me of Job 36:16 where it says, "He is wooing you from the jaws of distress into a spacious place, free from restriction"  which is actually a verse I gave to her when I was praying for her!  And I just looked it up and the end of it says, "to the comfort of your table, laden with choice food."  Hahah!!!!!  I totally forgot that was the end of that verse!!!!!  I really hope she looked it up!  Hahahahha!

Anyway- God used me even when I had THE WORST attitude and he turned my mourning into dancing and rejoicing.  And he blessed this woman unbelievably.  I don't think she could have walked away from that unchanged.

I am attaching the photos of the treasure hunt journal entries and well as the pictures of her.  

Bless you!

Tijuana Fundraising Update!!!

Thank you SOOO much all who donated to my trip today! I not only made the $300 deadline for tonight, but I also cut into the remaining $500 due on the trip account and now I only owe $145!!!! CRAZY! I did not expect that much money to come in today! You all amaze me and I can't wait to show you the film and the testimonies that come out of our time in Tijuana! Bless you!!!!!!


$755 raised!
$145 to go!

https://missiontrips.ibethel.org/

Tijuana

Tijuana is the location of the largest sex trade and prostitution industry in North America. "Zona Norte (officially colonia Zona Norte, "North Zone (neighborhood)") is an official neighborhood as well as a red light district located in Tijuana, Mexico. It is the largest red-light district in North America known for its brothels, street prostitution, and illicit drug sales. Due to its proximity to San Diego, California, it is frequented by US citizens as well as locals."(Wiki) Tijuana is also known for heroin camps, extreme poverty and malnutrition. In Tijuana, prostitution and often sex trafficking is legalized which has exacerbated the problem and has contributed to the size and popularity of this city as an epicenter for the sale of sex and purity.

As many of you know, I am someone who is PASSIONATE about IDENTITY, and BEAUTY and have experienced the attack against those things my entire life. I am also passionate about children and fighting for those who are abused, neglected, and uncared for. "Prostitution of children is a problem in Tijuana's Zona Norte, both in the form of voluntary acts as well as illegal child trafficking. Voluntary prostitution by children, often referred to as survival sex in order to obtain a warm meal or a place to sleep for the night is prevalent in the area. Often these children are smuggled across the border into San Diego and other nearby areas." (Wikipedia)

I will be going on a missions trip to Tijuana in March and we will be ministering directly to those involved in the red light districts and we will also be ministering to the poor and those in heroin camps among other things. Possibly even more important, we will be filming the ministry of churches and organizations as well as our own trip. We believe that this will have a ripple effect not only to the people we are directly ministering to but those that will view our film. 

We have our first fundraising deadline on January 9th and I have about $300 due on that day. If you would like to be part of a world-class documentary and mission to Tijuana, Mexico, please seriously consider donating to this amazing trip. 

www.missiontrips.ibethel.org

It is going to be a very impactful trip and I expect an even greater impact from the documentary we are going to film and release to many film festivals, hopefully throughout the world. Click on the link below if you are interested in investing in this worthwhile cause.

www.missiontrips.ibethel.org

www.missiontrips.ibethel.org

Birthday Treasure Hunt!!!

Wow! Birthday is turning around! Thanks to my sister and several of you I decided to stop wallowing in my disappointments and pity and prayed that God would take me on a birthday treasure hunt in the airport!!!! I just met my very first treasure!!!! I had about 4 pages of specific revelation about her from God and it ALL ended up being accurate! My first words about her were "purple shirt, dread-like brown hair, freckles..." Crazy accurate physically, spiritually, and in many other ways!!! This led to healings and freedom and breakthrough!!! Not to mention new friendships! We exchanged info and are going to send updates on answers to prayer! Wow!!!!! So far this delay ROCKS!!!! Jesus, you sly beautiful you!!!!! More!!!! Lets bring some children home!!!! Lets restore families!!! Heal hearts!!!!!

Sweet Jesus...

Jesus, is the sweetest person I know.

On Saturday morning I had a Single Life Small group meeting and it was a meeting where I shared my relational journey which is an extremely vulnerable part of my story.  It was hard, but also easy and I really feel closer to my group.  It is such a wonderful, fun-loving, and beautiful group of people and I left feeling very loved and heard and seen.

As I was walking out to my car, I saw some roses and I went over to smell them.  In my head I thought, "I wish I got flowers.  There really is no one to send me flowers.  Even this rose. It would be so lovely to have this rose." But this rose was also OBVIOUSLY part of someone's garden, and I would NOT pick a rose or any flower from someone's garden.  As I leaned over to smell the rose, I touched the head of the rose ever so gently and rose broke off into my hand.

The craziest part was WHERE the rose broke off.  Not at the head where I LIGHTLY touched it, but way down the stem so that it was a long stemmed rose!!!!  I felt like God was giving me this rose!  And so I took it!!!

I brought it home and I put it in a vase and I smelled it.  It was one of the most fragrant roses I have EVER smelled in my entire life!!!  The very next day it was BIGGER and it had been in full bloom the day before so this was SURPRISING and DELIGHTFUL.

Everyone who has smelled the rose has said that it is the most fragrant, sweet smelling rose they have ever smelled.

I believe it was anointed from heaven just for me.  Everytime I have been in the same room with it, I have been overcome with giddy, lovestruck joy.

Jesus is so sweet.

Day 1

Day 2

Provision Comes as the result of BIG VISION!!!

On Wednesday evening, I received an e-mail from the financial office of the ministry school I attend stating that I still owed a payment from October 8th.  This has been very difficult for me because although I have found small amounts of income through cleaning houses, driving people to the airports in surrounding cities, and offering my photography skills at half price, I still have not been able to find other employment to fill in the gaps.  My training is smack dab in the middle of every single day so it can be very difficult to find a job for the hours I do have available.

Wednesday afternoon however, I had a job interview that seems very promising.  Although it does not pay a lot, I would receive an iPhone and could cancel my current phone plan, which would save me a lot each month. I would only be working two days a week but it would be helpful. I think the interview went well, so we shall see!

So back to Wednesday night.  The e-mail stated I would need to address this issue by the end of the week or I would be locked out of school this coming Monday. Additionally, we have our final payment of $1100 due in two weeks as well. So as you can imagine, I started to worry.  I have already sent out support letters, so it seemed like I had asked enough people for money.  The only other option in my mind was to make money, but it was becoming hard to do that.... So I was in a quandary.  I had all of these bills breathing down my neck...  I knew God had sent me out here.  I knew he had called me to go to this school and be part of these ministries, so it didn't make sense to me that he would just abandon me out here with no provision.  And that's when God's truth began flooding over me through people in my revival group, people here at Destiny House, people at church, and through GOD HIMSELF. 

Tonight at church we talked about not letting negative worry in our thoughts but instead "worrying" about amazing things like... "What would happen if God provided MORE than enough for me? What would I do? I'm worried I'm going to have so much money, I'm going to have to start giving it away!" One thing that stood out to me was this thought that when we hear a negative curse, it's easy for us to imagine that negative thing, but when someone blesses us, it's sometimes hard for us to let our imagination run wild with the possibilities of that blessings. But WHY?!? Let's imagine and declare these impossible blessings over our life!

We had a time where we just asked God to take us into the throne room and speak to us about whatever issue had been hard to overcome lately.  I saw myself entering the throne room and God was smiling.  He was almost giddy with excitement, joy, and mischief!  He started throwing golden coins at me!  Abundance!  Over and over.  I started stuffing them into my pockets until my pockets were bulging.  "No, Melissa."  He said with a smile, "I've got someone to carry that for you."  I turned around and there were angels holding huge bags bulging with gold coins.

Then God showed me another picture of me as a little girl.  He took me to an ice cream shoppe and I was sitting up on one of those swivel chairs and he sat next to me and looked over at me with a grin and said, "What do you want?"  I ordered a big Sundae and he said, "I want to treat you.  I want to give you abundantly MORE than you could ask or ever imagine!"

I know God values my ambition and my heart to earn my own way.  But I also know he values teaching me how to receive from him as well.  He has more for all of us, you know.  Much MUCH more than we realize. 

So fast forward to this evening.  I check my e-mail...I'm in tears of joy as I write this! I received an anonymous donation of $500 that paid for my October 8th payment that I missed for school! Praise the Lord and THANK YOU whoever you are.  Even better than that was the fact that it ended up being that my October 8th payment was actually $320, so the remaining $180 went directly into the last payment I owe for school!!!!  Hallelujah!!!!


Wow.  Thank you EVERY single one of you who have donated to me, provided odd jobs, bought paintings and prints, photo sessions, booked my taxi service, etc. I can hardly wait for the time to come where I can bless you in return. I declare that you will receive back DOUBLE what you have given. MAKE THAT TEN TIMES!!!!! Wow. I am overwhelmed in the best possible way.