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How I Got from There to Here

July 29, 2018 By Melissa Beene Ford 3 Comments

Affiliate link disclosure

Hi friends!

Gosh, how I’ve missed you all!

Some of you have been with me since the humble beginnings of this little ‘ole blog back in 2006 when I had bought a certain Blue House, all the way through the heyday of a shocking 115,000+ visitors a month, and I have loved having you along for the crazy ride. I made SO MANY real friends through this blog that I never would have met otherwise. I had a BLAST getting to know you. AND mostly, I really enjoyed (and needed) this free form of therapy and creative outlet. AND I HAVE MISSED IT.

But as much as I loved the therapy of writing, and making you laugh, and sharing my vast knowledge (that was sarcasm, obviously) with y’all, LIFE HAPPENS. And if you hadn’t gathered by now that some LIFE had been happening to me over the last few years, let me be the first to tell you: it was rough there for a while.

I quit writing this blog for lots of reasons, and those reasons will be some great topics for upcoming blog posts.

But the important thing is, I’M BACK. I thought about scrapping this blog altogether, deleting all the posts and starting over, and even bought a domain and had a blog designer create a new place for me with none of the baggage nor memories from the old Blue House, but at the end of the day, this blog (and the Blue House) are such a huge part of my history, interwoven into the fabric of who I am, that I can’t let it go.

Was that dramatic? I hope so. I was going for ‘dramatic.’

The bottom line is, the last few years changed me. I read back over old posts here and don’t even know the person who wrote those. My ‘About Me’ page used to have a list of 40 Things About Me… and seriously, I read over that list now and I’m shocked that *I* wrote it. That was a lifetime ago! Who even was that person?!

But y’all… I’m so happy with where I am in life, now. I posted something about that on my Instagram yesterday, here. {Do we follow each other on Instagram? If not, please follow me  here! I always follow back}.

I’m ready to be back. I’m ready to talk about it. I’m ready to laugh with y’all again.

Meanwhile, a few books changed my life and maybe even saved my life over the last couple of years. These are books that have inspired me to live more simply, to transform my home into a cozy, minimalistic haven full of peace and calm and order, and to act justly, love mercy, and walk more humbly with God, and I think you’ll like them, too. In no particular order:

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo

I know, I’m probably the last person to jump on this bandwagon. Actually, I read the book about two years ago, decluttered everything, hauled several SUV loads of full garbage bags to Goodwill, and haven’t looked back. Things DO have energy. Clutter DOES weigh you down. It’s so freeing to travel light and only keep the things that have positive energy and positive memories and things that bring you joy. Which is why I included it in this list… JOY is high on my priority list these days. And it feels GOOD to toss anything, even things that are valuable monetarily, or useful, that causes you to have one millisecond of stress or bad memories.

Interrupted: When Jesus Wrecks Your Comfortable Christianity by Jen Hatmaker

I wrote about this one once before, in one of the last blog posts I wrote a couple of years ago here. This book, like her other life-changing book, 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, which I’d also include in this list, spoke to where I am and the dissatisfaction and disillusion I’ve felt with the Christian church as a whole lately. Sadly, the most evil, abusive, manipulative, evil, tormenting, hypocritical, evil (did I say ‘evil’ already?) people in my life in the last few years have been “church” people, and the worst of the worst were an evil, abusive family of flying monkeys who were all heavily involved in “The Ministry.” 

But this book really isn’t about that, per se; it’s about how to love and follow Jesus when you love HIM and really don’t like the way church is being done, because honestly, if I didn’t love Jesus so much, I would never go back to church again. Up until recently, I’d only had positive experiences within church. I can’t say that anymore. And that has changed me.

Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist

Are you seeing a theme here yet? I cannot put into words how much I LOVED this book, and NEEDED it. I downloaded the audio version and have listened to it on two different road trips and in the bathtub and while I was painting my bedroom, stopping often to take NOTES, because it was THAT GOOD. Y’all. If you’re tired, stressed out, overwhelmed, GET THIS BOOK.

Bold Love by Dan Allender

If you’re trapped in any kind of relationship with an abusive person*, goodness, you NEED this book. If you’re in an abusive MARRIAGE, you likely won’t receive much support, if any at all, from within the church, sadly. Marriage is put on a pedestal, and the ONLY option is to forgive, forgive, forgive. A husband can hit you in the face, lie, cheat, and steal, and you’ll be counseled to FORGIVE and move on because the MARRIAGE must be held together at any cost. This attitude is not only devastating to the victim, it’s NOT Biblical. Did you hear me? It’s NOT BIBLICAL. Jesus would never say to stay and endure, I’m sure of it.

This book explains WHY it’s not only NOT BIBLICAL, it’s not HELPFUL for the abuser because all it does is reward them for being abusers, which makes them abuse more, and that doesn’t make them better people. What IS helpful? I’ll let you read the book to find out. And you have my permission to stop tolerating and “forgiving” abuse, according to the standard ‘Christian counseling’ version of forgiveness.

*Maybe you don’t KNOW if your marriage is abusive? You need to know about Leslie Vernick. Google her. She has videos. And read her book, The Emotionally Destructive Marriage: How to Find Your Voice and Reclaim Your Hope. And please, please feel free to message me if I can help, or if you need to talk to someone. I mean it.

Last, but definitely not least,

Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World of Setbacks and Difficult People by Bob Goff

This is the book currently on my nightstand. I’m ALMOST finished with it, but reading the last couple of chapters slowly so as to savor it. This book was written for me, because God knew I needed to have my hope restored in Christian people. This is the SWEETEST book, with stories that made the back of my eyeballs leak. I don’t usually read books twice, but every book on this list is a definitely-read-twice book. This one, I’m going to download the audio version because I need to immerse myself in it again. If you’re a person who loves Jesus but needs help loving His people, gosh, read this.

I read so many books – usually a book a week – and I know if I thought about it I could list twenty more books that have rocked my world, but these are the first that came to mind, the ones that made me laugh and cry and change my beliefs and change the way I live my life, and most of all, helped me through the last tumultuous years.

I’d love to know yours? Please leave me a comment with the BEST book you’ve read lately!

Love,

Melissa

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Reader Interactions


Comments

  1. Angela says

    July 29, 2018 at 1:18 pm

    I this! Glad you are back.

    Reply
  2. Mary says

    July 30, 2018 at 6:22 pm

    Thank you for coming back. Thank you for your honesty and truth… RELIGION is definitely a problem. Thank God Jesus was not a religious person and HE invites us into relationship with HIM… His people can be tough on one another. Glad you found your way OUT and back again. Looking forward to your life journey.
    Mary, aka been-there-bought-the-shirt-wear-it-boldly-for-all-the-world-to-see.

    Reply
  3. Mary says

    July 30, 2018 at 6:27 pm

    So glad you found your way back. You were missed. It is so sad that religion is such a problem. I am so thankful that Jesus was not a religious person. HE invites us into relationship with HIM . To bad a lot of his followers haven’t joined HIM. I am looking forward to following you on your healing journey.
    Mary aka..been-there-bought-the-shirt-wear-it proudly-for-the-world-to-see

    Reply

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About Me

Hi, I'm Melissa! Texas Girl. Single Mom. Old house fanatic. Welcome to my corner of the internet! I hope to bring you all my deep thoughts about life, Jesus, health and happiness, and decorating my little home without breaking the bank. I will try my best to make you laugh. Or cry... but only for a minute or two. We'll see how it goes. Anyhoo, thanks for being here!! Follow me on Instagram (link below) to keep up with my daily stories. And be sure to subscribe so you don't miss a post.

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I love Saturday. 💕 Saturday’s my favorite. 😁 Projects going down today, starting with three gallons of white paint from @sherwinwilliams. What in the world should I paint first? 🤔 What’s happening at YOUR house today?
Snow in East Texas. It’s a big deal. ❄️ Snow in East Texas. It’s a big deal. ❄️
It’s a beautiful day if you’re solar powered ☀️ like me. It’s also a beautiful day for napping in the sun ☀️ if you’re like @sophiejunethedoodle. 🤷🏼‍♀️ I feel SO fortunate to get to work from home where I can sit by a window and even open it when the weather is right 👌🏻 even tho I can hear #goldendoodle snores from my home office... 🤔 Working from home has been on my #visionboard for years and it finally happened. 👏🏻What’s on YOUR vision board for 2021? 👉🏻Answer my poll in my stories! 👈🏻 #theresnoplacelikehome #workfromhomelife #iloveworkingfromhome
The whole Christmas 🎄 story, in these lyrics ri The whole Christmas 🎄 story, in these lyrics right here. I believe every word is true. After church this morning I decided these words needed to be added to my chalk wall. 👉🏻 In the darkness we were waiting
Without hope without light
Till from heaven You came running
There was mercy in Your eyes
To fulfil the law and prophets

To a virgin came the Word
From a throne of endless glory
To a cradle in the dirt

Praise the Father
Praise the Son
Praise the Spirit three in one
God of glory
Majesty
Praise forever to the King of Kings

To reveal the kingdom coming
And to reconcile the lost
To redeem the whole creation
You did not despise the cross

For even in Your suffering
You saw to the other side
Knowing this was our salvation
Jesus for our sake You died

And the morning that You rose
All of heaven held its breath
Till that stone was moved for good
For the Lamb had conquered death

And the dead rose from their tombs
And the angels stood in awe
For the souls of all who’d come
To the Father are restored

And the Church of Christ was born
Then the Spirit lit the flame
Now this gospel truth of old
Shall not kneel shall not faint

By His blood and in His Name
In His freedom I am free
For the love of Jesus Christ
Who has resurrected me
HaPPy NeW YeaR! 🎉 Is today the day we throw out HaPPy NeW YeaR! 🎉 Is today the day we throw out the cat houses made of all the Christmas boxes and blue tape, or do we have to wait for epiphany? 🤔 Wishing you ALL the blessings of a brand new year! 👏🏻 May the Lord crown the year with bounty so that even the wagon tracks overflow with abundance. Psalm 65:11 🌱
Instagram post 17875671470084040 Instagram post 17875671470084040
My top nine pics of 2020. 🤷🏼‍♀️ These My top nine pics of 2020. 🤷🏼‍♀️ These all make me happy to look at ~ I do love this little home we have ~ but none of these represent my top moments of 2020, which would be memories I made with the people I love the most. 💕 It’s been a year of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, but still, the person I am at the end of 2020 is better than who I was back in January in so many ways. Lots of lessons learned. Lots of figuring out what I want and what I don’t and who I wanna be and who I need around me. Can’t wait to see what 2021 holds but I know for sure there will be love and grace and mercy and peace. #topnine #topnine2020 #theyearinreview
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Find the Blue House on Instagram!

I love Saturday. 💕 Saturday’s my favorite. 😁 Projects going down today, starting with three gallons of white paint from @sherwinwilliams. What in the world should I paint first? 🤔 What’s happening at YOUR house today?
Snow in East Texas. It’s a big deal. ❄️ Snow in East Texas. It’s a big deal. ❄️
It’s a beautiful day if you’re solar powered ☀️ like me. It’s also a beautiful day for napping in the sun ☀️ if you’re like @sophiejunethedoodle. 🤷🏼‍♀️ I feel SO fortunate to get to work from home where I can sit by a window and even open it when the weather is right 👌🏻 even tho I can hear #goldendoodle snores from my home office... 🤔 Working from home has been on my #visionboard for years and it finally happened. 👏🏻What’s on YOUR vision board for 2021? 👉🏻Answer my poll in my stories! 👈🏻 #theresnoplacelikehome #workfromhomelife #iloveworkingfromhome
The whole Christmas 🎄 story, in these lyrics ri The whole Christmas 🎄 story, in these lyrics right here. I believe every word is true. After church this morning I decided these words needed to be added to my chalk wall. 👉🏻 In the darkness we were waiting
Without hope without light
Till from heaven You came running
There was mercy in Your eyes
To fulfil the law and prophets

To a virgin came the Word
From a throne of endless glory
To a cradle in the dirt

Praise the Father
Praise the Son
Praise the Spirit three in one
God of glory
Majesty
Praise forever to the King of Kings

To reveal the kingdom coming
And to reconcile the lost
To redeem the whole creation
You did not despise the cross

For even in Your suffering
You saw to the other side
Knowing this was our salvation
Jesus for our sake You died

And the morning that You rose
All of heaven held its breath
Till that stone was moved for good
For the Lamb had conquered death

And the dead rose from their tombs
And the angels stood in awe
For the souls of all who’d come
To the Father are restored

And the Church of Christ was born
Then the Spirit lit the flame
Now this gospel truth of old
Shall not kneel shall not faint

By His blood and in His Name
In His freedom I am free
For the love of Jesus Christ
Who has resurrected me
HaPPy NeW YeaR! 🎉 Is today the day we throw out HaPPy NeW YeaR! 🎉 Is today the day we throw out the cat houses made of all the Christmas boxes and blue tape, or do we have to wait for epiphany? 🤔 Wishing you ALL the blessings of a brand new year! 👏🏻 May the Lord crown the year with bounty so that even the wagon tracks overflow with abundance. Psalm 65:11 🌱
Instagram post 17875671470084040 Instagram post 17875671470084040
My top nine pics of 2020. 🤷🏼‍♀️ These My top nine pics of 2020. 🤷🏼‍♀️ These all make me happy to look at ~ I do love this little home we have ~ but none of these represent my top moments of 2020, which would be memories I made with the people I love the most. 💕 It’s been a year of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, but still, the person I am at the end of 2020 is better than who I was back in January in so many ways. Lots of lessons learned. Lots of figuring out what I want and what I don’t and who I wanna be and who I need around me. Can’t wait to see what 2021 holds but I know for sure there will be love and grace and mercy and peace. #topnine #topnine2020 #theyearinreview
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