http://www.melaniehill.org Go Ahead, Let Your Hair Down Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:28:42 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A common phrase I heard growing up in church and was asked to recite during worship, Bible studies, group gatherings, songs, etc. was, "God is good all the time; all the time God is good." That's what I'm reciting today as I overcome a tough couple of weeks. Last week ... http://www.melaniehill.org/2009/02/17/god-is-good/ Are you kidding me?! 924 students... TEENAGERS... on campus last night for our (middle school and high school) outreach events. 182 of those saw our church for the first time. It's not really about students seeing our church, but about creating an atmosphere that they are comfortable and excited to ... http://www.melaniehill.org/2009/02/05/924/ Last week I had intentionally put on my calendar a day of rest (Friday) and a day with my husband (Saturday). Since Christmas, Tony and I had just being going and going... and although it has been fun and we've done some great things, it had been a while since ... http://www.melaniehill.org/2009/01/28/i-had-a-date/ What do you do with frustrations? What do you do when you don't get something you really want (anything from clothes... to a trip... to concert tickets/restaurant reservations... to a husband... to a baby)? What do you do when you're let down by a friend, family member or co-worker? What ... http://www.melaniehill.org/2009/01/21/frustrations/ Here are some things I've learned from my mom over the last 28 years... (1) Always take time to put on lipstick, mascara and earrings before going out (anywhere). (2) Be sure that when you have a hard day, feel sick or have a test or something important coming up to wear ... http://www.melaniehill.org/2009/01/13/motherly-wisdom/ I have heard it said that we are constantly cycling through three phases of life: (1) we are experiencing a storm in our life, (2) we are coming out of a storm or (3) we are getting ready to enter a storm. So what are these storms? They are whatever ... http://www.melaniehill.org/2009/01/11/hope/ Keep in mind, these were merely my observations. Generalizations, absolutely. I've not been everywhere in America, nor did I visit everywhere in Paris; but, these are some things I did see that I wish were at least a part of my everyday life here... in the great Murfreesboro/Smyrna/Nashville, TN. (1) We ... http://www.melaniehill.org/2009/01/07/what-i-learned-about-americans-while-in-paris/ Since it's been seven months since you last heard from me, here's some quick things that happened... June: We had our largest student camp since I've been at FBC Smyrna... lots of stress prior, lots of fun and success during, lots of recouperating after. July: I moved up in the world of ... http://www.melaniehill.org/2009/01/07/happy-2009/ Tony and I have had a pretty eventful and social weekend. His mom was in from Colorado to visit. We showed her around Murfreesboro, taking her to a couple of our favorite restaurants and shops, and attended the Renaissance Festival. It was a first for all of ... http://www.melaniehill.org/2008/05/27/if-god-should-decide/ There were a couple of things I really disliked about my house when I first saw it.  One was the bright gold light fixtures, door knobs, old fans, and such.  Well, I've spraypainted one fixture and I'm really pretty happy with it - the one over the kitchen table - but I've since ... http://www.melaniehill.org/2008/05/21/mature/