Having to walk away from people that you love and care about…
Stepping away from an addiction…
Leaving a job, ministry, or school…

Whether healthy for you or not, walking away from some things and people can be a very difficult and overwhelming task. If you happen to be in a season of transition where you feel God calling you away from one thing and pointing you in another direction I want to encourage you. Keep reading ;)



1. It’s okay if you find it hard. It’s okay if it hurts. It’s okay if you’re sad.
When you have found security, peace, love, comfort, and happiness in certain people, places, and things walking away from that into the unknown is scary. “Where will I find this feeling again?” “How do I walk away?” “What if I’m not ready to deal with the reality outside of this?” “What if I don’t want to walk away?” are some of the questions you may ask.

The truth is it is hard to walk away from what’s known. It does hurt emotionally and sometimes physically to give up the security of what you know or were beginning to know so well. It can be sad and may take you through a momentary grieving and detoxification process.

But the reality is, if God is nudging you to move on and forward he will add some ease to the difficulty, he will replace the pain with comfort, and he will restore your strength through his joy!

Make a list of what you will miss about what or whom you are walking away from. Can God provide you with those items? (This provides some serious perspective) Truth is, everything that we are looking for in man, drugs, alcohol, shopping, food, money, our jobs, churches, etc has already been provided. God has already given us everything we need through him. You need peace? He is that! You want joy? He gives that! You need attention? That’s not going anywhere. You want validation? You find it all throughout the bible. Do you want security and stability? You’ll find it as you become grounded in his word! You want money? Well you have access to everything God has and what he gives is always better than money!

God can be our everlasting everything, we just need to sit back and receive it all from him knowing that trusting it to come from people, places, and things will only bring momentary satisfaction.

2. It’s okay to still want whatever it is.

Forbidden fruit is always more desirable. Adam and Eve struggled with it and so do we. But we do have freewill and must make a choice remembering that each decision comes with an outcome be it positive or negative. Stay in prayer, in your word, and keep your thoughts focused on how great God is and where he is taking you! Constantly thinking about what you need to walk away from keeps you there way longer!

Weigh the costs. Are you willing to forfeit your future even momentarily to stay where you are comfortable knowing that when God moves you from something he always has your best interest in mind? If the answer is yes, by all means remain stagnant. But if not I pray you gain the courage and boldness to move forward!

I don’t have a perfect formula for walking away from the things that have our hearts, spirits, minds, and/or flesh wrapped up. I struggle with it every time I have to! But I do know who to direct you to that does have the perfect answer for your individual need!

One thing I can appreciate about loving Jesus is that He is the one love I’ll never have to let go of.  So whenever I have to walk away from someone I love, something I crave, or feel I need to move forward I know that he will be there to assist me every step of the way loving me the same no matter how many steps back I stumble or leaps I take forward.

You see God knows our individual needs and situations and has the best blueprint on what to do next. Again I encourage you to pray and get in your word. Allow him space to speak to you in whatever manner you guys connect and then be obedient to what he is asking you to do.

Your obedience is better than sacrifice. If you have been led to move forward then you have to work on letting this go so you can get to that. Who knows, there may be a time in the future that God will allow your path to intertwine with someone or something again (IF IT’S HEALTHY, PUSHES YOU CLOSER TO GOD, AND IS IN HIS WILL FOR YOU). But then again it may not. My prayer is that you will be okay with either of those endings, standing firm on what God has called you to move forward from and in!

All my love!
Mel

These are just some things I have had to constantly remind myself and other dreamers of in the last few months. So I want to share them with every other dreamer and visionary out there!

1. Do not take on others doubts and fears as your own no matter how often they force them on you.

2. God is and will always be your provider. Stop worrying about what you don’t have.

3. Write the vision and remind yourself of it daily.

4. I’m pretty certain God gave you a scripture or something similar when your vision was sparked. That’s your foundation. Don't ever stop meditating on what it means to you in your today. Everyday!

5. Do whatever you have to do to keep believing in yourself. (Be the consistency you need in your own life)

6. Do your best, that's all God asks for.

7. Work on pleasing God. His standards are already laid out for you and don't change. The scripture says without faith it's impossible to please God [Heb 11:6]. Keep the faith in the vision he gave you, that's pleasing to him!

8. Faith without works is dead [James 2:17]. Let’s put some action behind our beliefs daily.

9. Fear will paralyze your purpose. 

10. You're brave and courageous. There are people who wouldn't dare try what you have done. Be grateful that you won't have to live in the land of what if?

11. Whose timeline are you on? I know it's not easy but get off everyone else's and even your own. God's is different. Get on his! 

12. It's ok to not know.

13. Tears may fall, let them! Think of it as the fertilizer needed to manifest good fruit, increased faith, and strength. 

14. Stay committed and remember, distractions derail dreams. 

Remember that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you! [Phil 4:13] Keep dreaming, envisioning, and following thru! We need you!

Can you believe it?! It is the first day of the last month of the year already! As many of us do at the end of the year I have been in serious reflection. Thinking about the who, what, when, where, and why of my life has caused me to become very aware of the fact that I am nowhere near where I want to be. However, I find solace in recognizing that I have come a long way since 2012. 

This week (Sunday-Saturday) I will leave you with seven thoughts in regards to closing out this year and beginning the new year.

Starting with today! Thought 1: Closing time

"Once upon a time there was a beautiful Princess, the fairest in all the land! She loved all those in her kingdom wholeheartedly and made sure that no one ever went without. She lived to please the people and they were grateful for it.

One day some settlers came to her kingdom from a faraway land. The Princess welcomed them with open arms even though many of her magistrates warned against it.

“They do not appear to have good intentions Princess!” they proclaimed.

But the Princess, full of love to share with all, ignored their warnings and welcomed the settlers in with open arms.

Life in the kingdom was forever changed…"

This is the beginning of my fairy tale story and although I may not have finished writing it out today, I’m totally aware of the yucky middle and what is becoming a way better ending. We all have a story to tell, no matter how flowery or gory it may be. 

The other night I was out with my cousin and our conversation turned to truth pretty quickly and very unexpectedly. We went just deep enough to scrape the surface of some of the challenges I dealt with in my early adult years. It was so hard for her to comprehend that I, Mel Lee, could ever go through such a challenge that we found ourselves going back and forth regarding the reality of it all. All I could think was, we all have a story to tell even if we don’t look like anything we’ve been through. Cliché or not this is my truth!

We all have a story to tell, whether we are ready to share it with anyone or not. We all have successes,

[Wanna download the pdf version to this blog? Just click right here and read some now and some later. Just click and it’s yours =)]

Embrace the traffic on the freeway! Whaaattt? Allow me to explain myself by telling you about my Thursday morning!

I was literally sitting still in traffic on the 91 freeway and feeling real anxious about it. I had to travel quite a distance knowing the travel time could be severely multiplied because I was using the 91 and 605 freeways (You have to know Southern Cali to understand). I wanted to leave an hour earlier than I did so I was already feeling late even though I still had about 90mins to get there, find parking, and find where I was supposed to be. I was just so worried I would be late and miss the opportunity altogether.

When I recognized what was happening I told myself “Melanie let’s sit back, calm down, don’t complain and just *sigh* take a deep breath.” As my anxiety decreased I asked myself what do I need to learn from this and thus, this post was born ;)

Why am I stopped?
It’s so irritating to be in stand still traffic and not know the reason why. It’s something like 

I had plans to post about something else this week but I thought let me hold off. This is only because I want to share about an event I was privileged to be a committee member and volunteer for. The first annual Royal Summer Tea that took place yesterday August 24, 2013.

My heart is called to pregnant teens and women who have experienced abortion in the past and need assistance in understanding that grace applies to them as well. One of my spiritual mothers introduced me to a ministry a couple of years ago and I have been volunteering there ever since. The organization is called His Nesting Place and they run a pregnancy center and home for unwed mothers as an alternative to abortion. They live life to save the lives of the unborn. (His Nesting Place on Facebook)

Many people feel some kind of way when hearing about pro-life ministries. I must admit that has been me at different points in my life BUT when I am able to experience first hand the lives that are saved (both child and parents) by this ministry, there is no way I can be mad at what they stand and fight for…LIFE. They have been in operation for over 30 years and have housed thousands of women and their children since opening their doors.

Yesterday the first annual summer tea was held in Rolling Hills Estates in one of the most beautiful gardens I have ever been in, in my life. God really blessed His Nesting Place with absolute favor as the owner of the home opened up her beautiful garden in order to put this fundraiser on. 

With over 120 guests in attendance His Nesting Place was able to raise funds and spread awareness about the issue of abortion in America. I feel that the testimonies that were shared by a few of the young women there were touching and resonated with the spirit of everyone in attendance. Which made me feel that I should reach out to my readership on the issue. 

Even though abortion is one of the procedures performed most on women in America it is still a super touchy subject. I just want to hit on it long enough to tell you that: 

1) There are always alternatives to abortion no matter what the situation is. 

2) God has given you the gift of free will! As you exercise it make sure that you are properly and fully educated on the decisions of abortion, parenting, and adoption both in the natural and in the spiritual. 

3) Men or women, if you have had an abortion in the past and are having difficulty dealing with it, whether it happened 2 days ago or 37 years ago, you are not the only one. God wants you to know that there is restoration for you. The guilt, anger, sadness that may be associated with it no longer has to be. Silence surrounding your abortion choice can be the loudest pain in your life. If you are ready to talk about it with someone please do! Not only can you contact me at the His Nesting Place Pregnancy Help Center or through my private practice www.YouCanTherapy.com but you can also find a network of counselors throughout the US and internationally via www.SaveOne.org. 

Freedom is yours if you want it! You have to take the first step…Repentance. That can happen strictly between you and God! Then, if you’re ready there are plenty of people, including myself, ready to help!

Love, 
 Mel

Question: What do ballroom dance partners, employees and their supervisors, and God and his children all have in common? Do you give up or did the title give it away?

Answer: One leads while the other follows.

Follow the leader was a fun game for me. It was cool to follow but it was pure joy to lead and have kids do off the wall stuff that I felt like doing! If you think about it, life is like a never ending game of follow the leader. We are always following something whether we want to or not. I was reading Joshua chapter 3 last week in the message version and it caught my complete and total attention.  

When you see the Covenant-Chest of God, your God, carried by the Levitical priests, start moving. Follow it. Make sure you keep a proper distance!—and you’ll see clearly the route to take. You’ve never been on this road before. Joshua 3:3-4 MSG

The message for me was simple: Let God lead. (I wonder what you just got from reading it)

I automatically put my head down because I knew the word was tailor made for me. Even though I immediately accepted the word, it took me several days to realize I should repent for this. Why? I have tried to take God’s leadership position in my own life and it has negatively affected me and my ministry. Over the last few days I learned that I’ve taken control of things I have no experience in dealing with. My biggest tell? I was worried. When we worry it usually means we have taken the trust we have in God and placed it in our feeble ability or whatever circumstance we’re facing.

I think we all have moments we want to step in as God’s boss. But maybe I should only speak for myself. Sometimes I want to tell God what to do, how to bless, how much to bless, when he is not being fair, and when he should do this and/or that. Of course I don’t sit and say “God do this now”. It

believe he brought me this far to leave me.” So don’t be discouraged when it gets a little tricky or difficult! 

We knew exactly where we were going, what to expect, and how long it would take but that didn’t make it easy. Sometimes it made it worse! Knowing the hills, or long stretches that take more work were coming up was very discouraging at times!

8. You have got to be kidding me with the detours!

You may think you know where you’re going until they set that big, bright orange detour sign out on 

I’d like to start by saying I love my bike! Anyways, in the beginning of January a friend and I started riding on the bike path from Manhattan Beach to Santa Monica, approximately 26/27 miles roundtrip.

The first time we cruised to Santa Monica in a little under two hours. Not so bad except for the fact we had to be back in Manhattan by 5pm. *Heavy sigh* we planned horribly! 5pm?! Yea, it was totally 3:45pm by the time we started heading back. Do you see the problem? So much for cruising home.

As we raced the clock and the sunset I had time to think. 1st thought—Why in the world did I work out before coming on this almost 30mile trek? The rest of my thoughts? Ok, since you asked:  

1. Lack of planning is downright stressful and can be a complete inconvenience

Nine times out of ten careless planning will negatively affect someone or something else as it did in our case. We knew it would take about four hours roundtrip but didn’t factor in time for rest, snacks, or crowds. At this point my friend was still renting her bike and we needed to be back before they closed the shop. From the moment we made it to Santa Monica we knew we didn’t have long.