Praise

Storms

~ Extravagant Hope ~ Leave a comment

Storms

Looking out my front windows to the north I see a storm brewing. Clouds in various shapes and sizes in varying degrees of grey, black and white are simmering and building. They appear to be motionless, but they’re not. The wind is picking up. The wind chimes on the patio are strumming and singing, growing more insistent as the wind announces the approaching storm. Rain and wind are coming. Will there be thunder and lightning? I notice the absence of bird song and chatter. My bare-bones apple tree branches are filled with little birds watching and waiting. Nature knows…

Friends and family in various parts of the country are experiencing storms in varying degrees of severity. Some have below-freezing temperatures that turn deadly, some are being devastated by tornadoes and blizzards, while others are facing floods and record rainfall. Other parts of the country have milder temperatures and the fear of drought looms from the lack of water.

When the weather forecasters display their satellite generated models of atmospheric pressure, wind, moisture and all the variables that make up a storm it can bring a sense of security in knowing what’s coming, how to plan, protect and predict. Sometimes these predictions are spot on and other times not.

Watching and waiting for this storm to make its entrance reminds me of life. There are times when all the little hairs on the back of the neck and arms stand on end and our discernment and awareness are heightened. We feel a storm approaching. We become alert and aware of every changing nuance in our atmosphere. We watch body language and what is and isn’t said; we are hyper-aware that something is off-kilter and become quiet as we observe our surroundings. The unsettled feeling of knowing something is coming but not knowing how to plan, predict and prepare stirs feelings of chaos, fear and urgency into a thick brew of panicked helplessness.

Other times because of circumstances, conversations, or a diagnosis we know what is coming and because of that we attempt to predict, sometimes with fairly good accuracy and sometimes not, what the outcome might be. Having that knowledge simmering and stewing in our minds is a terrible and exhausting feeling, as we rehearse, play out and attempt to control what’s coming. But we really can’t, can we?

Our limited humanity is an an exhausting, frightening, chaotic thing, isn’t it? We so desperately want to control and order our lives. We want peace and happiness and attempt to forge for ourselves a chaos-free zone that bubbles, protects and shuts out all things hurtful, harmful and terrible. We might succeed for a bit in keeping at bay all that howls and thrashes outside, but there are cracks – flaws in our construction and the storm knows the way inside. Sometimes it will patiently wait, prodding and poking the infrastructure, testing and observing where the design flaws are hiding. Little by little it oozes in causing small bits of erosion and damage that we don’t notice immediately until chunks of our carefully constructed barriers begin crumbling and falling.

Other times it strikes so violently, fast and hard that our safe bubble pops with terrifying suddenness and we are left in a ruin of rubble and disaster and have no idea how to rebuild. Blindsided.

In the midst of all this ruin is Hope. Jesus.

He’s the Master Designer, Creator, Lover. He is the Light that breaks through all darkness and commands it to flee. He’s done it before, is doing it and will do it again. Why He permits the storms and darkness to enter our bubbles, I don’t know.  Believe me when I say I have asked Him, cried, raged, screamed and demanded answers from Him for the bubble breaking storms I have endured. I do  know that He wants to take the hurt, rage, fury, and heartbreak from us because He is the only one who can take the wounded devastation and rebuild the ruins and horror into something breathtaking, holy, and beautiful. It becomes sacred ground. What He rebuilds is strong, graceful, thankful and hopeful. He positions us to be light to another who finds themselves in the midst of a storm. He takes ashes and gives beauty, He takes mourning and gives joy, He takes heaviness and despair and gives a spirit of praise and peace as is said in Isaiah 61:3 “To all who mourn in Israel he will give: beauty for ashes; joy instead of mourning; praise instead of heaviness. For God has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for his own glory.”

Sometimes what we’ve built has to be torn down in order for us to experience what is waiting for us on the other side of the storm. Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness. That is Jesus and He is our hope – our true anchor in the storm.

Raw

~ Extravagant Hope ~ Leave a comment

Raw

The morning view from my kitchen window is filled with shafts of pink and pale orange that stripe the sunrise sky and mix with the slate grey of the cloud cover. It’s so quiet and still. The neighbor’s fig and plum trees have lost all their leaves. The branches look stark and raw stripped of their leaf cover. Raw…

I’m the first one up except for the dog and cats. The house is chilly as the heater begins its task of warming things up. I love the feeling of my warm coffee mug bringing warmth to my chilled hands. It’s comforting. It’s soothing. It’s routine and I look forward to it every day.

Standing at my kitchen window watching the Creator begin painting the sky with even brighter hues and bursts of brilliance that word, raw, simmers in my brain. I feel raw this morning. It can be defined as in its natural state; not yet processed or purified; not analyzed, evaluated, or processed for use.

The Christmas season is over and the new year looms ahead. I always feel off-kilter and unsettled this time of year. The build up and anticipation, the plans and decorations, the bright glitter and shine, the special food and the hope of seeing loved ones has worn off and dulled. Putting it all away for next year, the clearing up and cleaning out, the good-byes and see ya laters await and it all just feels raw and painful. So much can happen in a year, a month, a minute and I am not a fan of uncertainty. I try to live in the moment and let go of worry, fear, lack of control and lean into the new, the blessings and adventures that will come.  But it’s still hard. My emotions are raw and chaotic. They need a resting place. Help, Jesus…

As I watch the morning unfold on my patio trying to sort my thoughts, a feeling of safety and tucking-in surrounds me. It’s beautiful and startling. I know it’s You. The comforting words of Psalm 139: 1-2 open up in my mind, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.” As Your words soak in, the pent-up emotions and chaos tumble forth. You understand the raw, the chaos, and the frantic unsettled feelings that don’t have a place to land. You are the landing place and the wide-open hands. You are the Alpha and Omega, the One who can sort, sift and make any sense of the jumbled thoughts and rawness. You are the One who calms and smooths out the unanalyzed, the not yet processed, natural state of the human heart and You purify it. It feels freeing, safe, and cleansing giving it to You in its raw, clouded and mixed-up state.

With You, I don’t have to tone it down, gauge the emotional capacity of the one I’m sharing with, dismiss and diminish myself and the rawness of my emotions in order to protect someone else, or use copious amounts of humor to tame it and make it palatable to another. With You, I am just me – all the raw feelings, the laughter and tears, the rumblings, the nonsense, the hope, and the fluttering anticipation that watches and waits to see what blessings You will pour out this year.

We all need a safe, protected place to just be with Someone who knows every single thought, emotion and the reasons behind each of them.  It is a beautiful, holy and sacred thing to be raw. No holding back – no lengthy explanations and justifications. The whole of our humanity in the presence of the One who created every nuance.  I never fully realized how freeing and breathtakingly intimate it is to be raw in the presence of God. It is sacred ground.

A High Rock

~ Extravagant Hope ~ Leave a comment

Wrapped up in her crimson scarf, dark green beanie and brown combat boots, Jasmine makes her way to the dirt road that winds past her home. Tendrils of black hair wisp and flutter around her cheeks and forehead as she walks.

The air is bracing and chilly, but the hot coffee with cream warms her hands through the lidded cup.

The crunching of her boots along the dirt packed road is such a satisfying sound, purposeful with meaning and direction. The rhythmic sound is comforting and familiar and she’s been craving that feeling.

This year has been one of many changes – some welcome and some not, some expected and some blindsiding. The feeling of having no control over her life and the lives of her loved ones weighs so heavily on her raw and tender heart. There seems to be no balance to any of it and she cannot fix, re-route and smooth it over. The helplessness of it all piles up and up and leaves her feeling overwhelmed and so very tired. With every step she visualizes pounding the troubles deep into the dusty country road, imagining the puffs of dirt and tiny pebbles left in her wake floating away on the breeze and disappearing, but they don’t. The troubles just settle onto a different spot in her journey.

As she makes her way along the road Jasmine feels the peace and tranquility of the countryside begin to work its magic. Her tight shoulders and neck release, just a bit, her mind focusing on what’s around her. Birds chatter in the copse of trees just up ahead, down and around the slight bend in the road. There is a bit of marshy land to the right filled with tiny bugs and tasty treats for the morning hunters. It’s a joyful and happy noise these birds and creatures make as they faithfully trust in the Creator to supply their needs. All they need to do is watch, listen and seek out what He has given.

Passing under the branches of the old, gnarled oaks, Jasmine feels the slight change in temperature as the morning sun is temporarily blocked and chill air brushes her exposed neck and face. This is how her heart has been feeling – as if a shadow has fallen over her spirit drowning out the light and warmth, leaving her chilled, shivery and exposed. In this shadowy place she’s lost her perspective. Everything seems obscure and vague with too many unknowns. It isn’t fixable and the way is so hard to see.

On the other side of the oak trees a small trail branches to the right from the main dirt road. As she passes under the trees she feels, almost hears, in the tufted and swaying grasses, an audible sigh beckoning her to veer off and take the path. “Why not?” she whispers.

Curiosity mounting, Jasmine makes her way along the trail. She has traversed this old country lane many times and doesn’t remember this obscure path that’s barely visible through the wildflowers and grasses.  Up ahead it curves off to the left around a cluster of small trees. Once past the trees the path drops down snaking off through the countryside. At the point where the path begins its descent, she sees a cluster of large rocks to the right jutting out like a shelf. There are fragrant flowering bushes around the rock cluster that give it a tucked in feeling. Safe and protected. Fascinated, Jasmine climbs up and sits on the rock shelf. She lets herself breathe in the cool air and feel the warmth of the late autumn sun penetrate her exposed skin. Warmth and protection begin working their way into that shadowy, frozen place in her heart.  It’s such a lovely, cozy, feeling of safety. She hasn’t realized just how frantic and overwhelmed she’s been and how she has missed feeling safe and peaceful.  

Looking at the rock she’s sitting on, she notices bits of dried leaves and finished flower petals from the nearby bushes. They spin and shimmy along in the breeze like random spinners, until they float off the edge of the rock shelf following the breeze on the journey laid out for them. The freedom in these floating petals makes her smile. Oh, to feel so light, so free, so joyful…

The breeze picks up, dancing and whispering through the wildflowers around her rock. She feels a gentle peace descend on her shoulders and thread through her hair. Tears of release that she has so fiercely guarded and held at bay, freely fall and flow down her face, splashing the rock like drops from her heart. Each tear holds the name of one she holds dear, of one she loves and desperately wants to protect, wrap up tight and keep from all harm and violence. But she’s tired, her heart can’t contain all the striving, soldiering on and fixing…it’s beyond what she can do. It rips and pulls at her spirit.

As the cleansing flood of tears subside, Jasmine notices that in the warm, life-giving light of the sun, her tears soak up and evaporate. A hush falls around the rock and a Voice she recognizes speaks into her soul. “I have them now. Their names are engraved on the palms of My hands, as is yours. Their burdens are not yours to carry. I have them and they are safe. I gathered up your tears in a bottle where My breath and My will have transformed them into droplets of peace, joy and beauty. You are safe and hidden in My sanctuary. I have placed you upon a high rock where you will find rest for your world-weary soul. I am a shield about you, you are never alone.”

Her parched spirit soaks up these whispered words and softens. Her troubled, fearful, frantic thoughts slow and dissolve; blown away by the flighty breeze tousling her hair. As she sits on this high rock, safe and tucked away, her heart and soul open up and she has room to breathe. In the place where fear, anxiety and a desperate need to control once dwelled, now courage, bravery and deep joy begin blossoming. Her captured tears have been transformed into fragrant, life-giving water that cleanses and renews all that was lost and broken. She will find beauty again. She is confident of this.

As the autumn sun makes it lazy descent, Jasmine is ready to head back. She isn’t the same person who started out this morning. Her feet feel light and confident as she follows the path back to the main road. The warmth of the setting sun on her back feels so safe, like the protective hand of a Father who is ever vigilant and watchful, who has all things under His control. She really can rest now. “…My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”1

  1. Exodus 33:14

Book Release! Divine Appointments…

~ Extravagant Hope ~ Leave a comment

DIVINE APPOINTMENTS…IS LIVE – published and ready to go on Amazon as eBook/Kindle or paperback! It will soon be available at Barnes & Noble online, Books a million, Thriftbooks, Walmart and other online retailers. I cannot wait for you to get a copy in your hands and let me know what you think!!!

Please share and help me get the word out 🙂 You can visit my author page on FB @MelissaGiomiauthor and IG: @melissa.giomi

I am thankful and honored that so many of you have been on this author journey with me for the past 2 years. It means more to me than you know to have support, encouragement and prayers for this book and Divine Encounters…to accomplish what God has planned for them. It has been such a fun and exciting journey and I’m hopeful there are more books to come 🙂

Cheers and happy reading!

Coming very soon!

~ Extravagant Hope ~ Leave a comment

Hi everyone! Divine Appointments…will be live and published this month! Uploading to Amazon as eBook/Kindleand paperback has begun and both will soon available. I cannot wait for you all to get book #2 in your hands!

Thank you so much for the continued support – it is much appreciated and so very valuable to self-published authors.

Cheers!

He is Near

~ Extravagant Hope ~ Leave a comment

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 1 Kings 19:11-12

This scripture in 1 Kings caught my attention this morning. If you are like me, you have spent time in your quest for Jesus looking for Him in the histrionic thrill and chaos of heavy emotions and adrenaline rushes at large events that were wild and maybe kind of crazy. I’ve sought Him there. I’ve done that.

Looking back I’m not convinced I found Jesus there. I’m speaking from my own experiences here. What I found was a frantic and human collective fear of missing Jesus. A desperate need to strive, do it right, be louder and better, and work hard enough to capture the Lord’s attention, to be seen. His attention. Doesn’t He tell us over and over that we already have it? Why the exhausting striving, competing and wild, chaotic seeking?

“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.” Jeremiah 29:13

How often are we on that mountain top, in His presence, but completely miss Him because we are hyper- focused on the next thrill, emotional high, or event – the louder and wilder the better? We don’t recognize Him in the gentleness of a whisper, the puff of breeze that tosses flowers and musses our hair or the beauty and silence of a forested path.

Do we believe He cannot hear or notice us if we are not louder and more demonstrative than the next person? I wonder…

I’ve discovered that He absolutely can be found anywhere and everywhere and nothing limits or holds Him back. Can He be found in a raging storm? Yes, He can. Can He be found in corporate worship? Absolutely!

However, I believe that He is most often found in unobtrusive moments where the chaos of the world and humanity is quieted in our spirits. When our eyes and ears truly see and feel His presence blanketing us as gentleness, kindness, attention, and sovereignty. Where His love, healing, hope, and protection flows soothingly over, around, and about us as He listens attentively to our softest utterance, with or without words. Answering our whispered need with a deeply compassionate whisper that we recognize in the rustling of leaves, sighing of a breeze, a spectacular sunrise or perhaps in the mystery of deep calling to deep as He speaks to and cares for our souls.

Divine whispers have brought more healing to my wounded soul, body, and heart than I can count. All of the “holy chaos” I sought did nothing to mend, soothe, heal, and restore my broken places. The whispers of the One who sees me, knows me, and deeply loves me is what I seek…what is sought will be found. Peace and hope are right here waiting for you and for me.  Look for Him gently, listen for His whispers.

2nd Book coming soon…

~ Extravagant Hope ~ Leave a comment

Hi everyone,

I’m so excited to share that my 2nd book, Divine Appointments…, is getting so close to publication! It has been fully edited, cover design created, interior formatting and illustrations are almost complete, and book blurb written. I will be doing a cover and blurb reveal in the near future. I can’t wait for you all to see it!

It will be an eBook and paperback book, just like my first book, Divine Encounters… and will be available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble online, Walmart online, Thriftbooks and other online retailers as well as a few independent bookstores.

If you have yet to read Divine Encounters…please check it out and give it a read ~ there are blessings, encouragement, hope and lovely visuals just waiting to delight you. Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BBQ15NWM

I’d also like to invite you to join me on Facebook on my author page @MelissaGiomiauthor

Cheers and have a lovely weekend!

The Country Chapel

~ Extravagant Hope ~ Leave a comment

The weathered white wood of the simple spire comes into view as I crest the gentle hill.

The narrow dirt road leading to the country chapel is overgrown with tufts of sturdy grasses and haphazard rocks. It’s rutted and a bit uneven from so many years of weather, shoes and tires making their way to church.

The land around the chapel is wild and untamed. Nature has reclaimed this place and surrounded it with beauty, as if cradling the abandoned chapel in lovely colors and peace, so much peace.  It feels protected and safe. The Creator is here.

Tall, wispy flowers and assorted meadow grasses bend and sway as a light breeze sighs through, bringing movement and faint whisperings of years gone by.

An old pine tree rises up just behind and to the right of the old chapel. The branches are thick and heavy with a few quirky curves to its old trunk. The old tree has seen and heard so much life, death, joy, and sorrow. The tattered remnants of a rope swing sway and shift with the breeze. Visions of ponytails sailing out behind the swinger with shrieks of joy as the swing takes its rider higher and higher! Freedom!

Looking up, I see leaves, sticks and a piece of bright red yarn entwined and fashioned into a sturdy nest settled into the crook of a branch. Humanity may have abandoned this country chapel, but nature still finds shelter and a home here.

Taking a seat on a weathered stone bench under the tree, I imagine these pine branches shading long tables of cold, homemade lemonade, tasty potluck dishes and desserts on a warm Sunday afternoon, as congregants share a meal and life together.  If I listen closely, I hear muted laughter and the sharing of gossip and recipes passed down through the years. Those family recipes will make an appearance at every potluck gathering. Belonging.

Becoming more accustomed to the sounds of silence, I hear bird song and buzzing bugs along with the creak and groan of the old pine settling and shifting with the breeze and old age. A fluffy, grey squirrel spies on me as it chatters and flicks its tail. One could sit here all day letting the imagination and nostalgia go where they will…

I make my way to the offset wooden steps of the chapel that creak and shift under my feet. The wooden door’s paint is peeling, and the bottom has been gnawed and scratched by a creature seeking shelter.

Inside the chapel the hush and silence are palpable. High windows are covered in dust and streaks with a few broken and missing panes, but the light that streams in is lovely and warm – like an invitation to come and rest.

There are ten rows of off-kilter pews on each side of the chapel with a few missing or cracked in places. A tattered red-leather hymnal lies on the edge of one. Some of the pages have been nibbled off and perhaps taken as bedding for a small creature that found safety here.

As I move forward between the rows, I notice one pew has initials carved into the wood, KC was here. Another has a stick horse and flowers etched into it. Lorraine loves James is written in orange pen on the back of one with some little hearts surrounding the words. Life was lived here.

The altar is simple and pure on its raised-up flooring. It appears to be handmade and sturdy. It’s beautiful. Echoes of sermons, wedding vows and funeral memorials whisper and float on the still, dust-moted air. The chapel may be abandoned but it’s holy and alive with memories.

I sit for a bit in the front pew and allow the peace, mystery, and silence of this old chapel to speak and heal. It does. The supernatural is afoot. It can be felt in the slight shiver that pricks the back of the neck and dances along the spine. There is no room for fear here; it’s lovely, divine, and healing. Beautiful.

The light begins to shift as the day moves on and I head to the side door leading out to the left. It’s loose on the rusty hinges and makes a squeaking noise as I push it open and go out.

A lopsided picnic bench sits in the shade of an old, gnarled cherry tree. The legs hidden by the meadow grasses – the keepers of this place.  Sitting in the shade, I take in the weathered boards, streaked windows and lonely cross that sits atop the small spire of this country chapel. I’m struck with the thought that the Father met with his beloved within those walls. He healed, loved, and wept with them. He rejoiced, danced, and comforted them. The sacred holiness of that still permeates and flits within those abandoned walls. But we mustn’t try to contain Him inside physical walls, exclusivity, strict rules, or joyless routine. No! He is found under the gnarled old tree where someone sat pouring out their deepest heart wounds and pain. He heard every word, healed, and exchanged the pain for joy and peace. He did this as the birds sang, wildflowers soothed with their beauty and the breeze took the prayers and cries tossing them up into His ever-open hands to receive, heal and restore. He isn’t tame, safe, or containable. His love is fierce, wild, joy-filled and all consuming. He can be found within the walls of a sweet country chapel, but just as often I find Him in the wild places with dancing wildflowers, leafy trees, creatures, and breathtaking beauty.

My time here is complete. So many lessons learned from the old and abandoned. This country chapel with its divine murmurs and lonely beauty spoke volumes to me as I sat in the memories, nostalgia and quiet. This old chapel and the nature that cradles and shelters it healed, comforted, and spoke to my soul in ways a spoken word never could. Divine whispers float and swirl all around us – may we have the ears to hear it and hearts to discern it.

Hallowed

~ Extravagant Hope ~ Leave a comment

To make holy; consecrated.

To me, the word hallowed evokes a mysterious and magical feeling. Visions swirl in my mind of sacred, lovely light, and silence – a sense of something in the atmosphere that crackles with divine prophesy. Holy ground, a place where angels and heavenly beings tread.

In my limited understanding of all things Divine, these images and feelings are evoked by the knowledge that a place deemed hallowed has been consecrated and made holy by the divine presence of God. His actual presence in a place.

Imagine a quiet neighborhood in the early morning hours, still sleepy from a night of peaceful rest. A man and his dog venture out for their morning constitutional. The beauty of the morning, the sleepy quiet of the houses as they walk, and the cool feel of the air on his skin brings a smile to his face and a lightness to his steps. There are some heavy things weighing on him and this lovely morning soothes his spirit and invites conversation with the Creator. As he spills his fears and concerns to his Father, he is enveloped in such peace; peace that shouldn’t be there in light of his circumstances and worry yet it is. The Father soothes, calms, and speaks provision and safety into his tired soul. Hallowed.

There is the woman on her bike, following the paved path through the city on her way to work. The busy street, impatient drivers, and slow-moving pedestrians blur as she frets over the presentation she will be giving to new clients, in a few hours. Is she prepared? Did she remember to hit all the important points? Will what she says make sense? As her mind tosses and panic tries to surface, she lifts up a quick prayer asking for wisdom, clarity, and courage. As she pedals, her thoughts come together more clearly as she is reminded of the hard work she put into this, the success she’s had in the past, and that she is enough and deeply loved. Her worries dim and fade. Excitement replaces fear as her tense shoulders and insides relax. The Lord is with her, she can do this. Hallowed.

A long day of hiking and rafting is complete. Night is falling in the campground. The campfire dances and sparks, giving off a warm, happy glow. As s’more fixings are passed between them, the older couple settles into their camp chairs to relax and unwind before heading to bed.  This is their favorite way to vacation. The peace of the Redwoods falls about them, filling them with a sense of belonging and joy. They find peace in nature. It restores them like nothing else. As they sit listening to the forest wind down for the night, lost in their thoughts, a comforting and mysterious feeling of being wrapped up and carefully tended to fill their souls. They know they are in the presence of the Holy One. Their little campground in the Redwoods is hallowed ground. The Creator is everywhere, whispering peace in the wind sighing through the tree branches, singing provision as His creatures scout and find nourishment in the nooks and crannies of the forest floor, and speaking joy into this journey of life in the snapping and crackling of the campfire. Hallowed ground.

Wherever life takes you today, I believe you will have myriad opportunities to be in the presence of the Divine; to walk, lie, and sit on hallowed ground as the Father whispers and shouts His love, protection, and presence. He is everywhere and Divine appointments are waiting for you.

Book Giveaway – Goodreads

~ Extravagant Hope ~ Leave a comment

Hi everyone,

I wanted to let you know that I’m holding a giveaway for the paperback version of Divine Encounters… on Goodreads. If you haven’t checked it out, it is a great place to connect with other authors, readers, book lovers! My giveaway begins tomorrow April 21st and runs through May 20th.

To enter, go to Goodreads.com and click on Browse from the drop down menu, click Giveaways and you will able to search for Divine Encounters… and enter to win!

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22786268.Melissa_Giomi

Best of luck and please feel free to share the giveaway!

Cheers!

Melissa