The Ichthys Letters: Loss and Grief

Greetings, 

I am so excited to share this Ichthys Letter with you all today. There are more on the horizon as well. Since I began this series back in February, The World of Kedoshim has grown. It is no longer just a vision hanging on my living room wall and in all honesty, there is actually less space on that wall now. 

As I continue to work on the next part of the story in book 4, The Hope of Inheritance, this letter takes us to the end of The Cyprus Journal, but just before the beginning of The Hope of Inheritance. This is a season of transition and change and I can't wait for you to read this. Consider it an introduction to book 4. 

Yes, I know, I'm just getting started, but do not worry, there is a specific reason I am releasing this Ichthys Letter now, feel free to post your guesses in the comments below. 

The Ichthys Letters: Pain and Glory

Greetings, 

I am so excited to share this Ichthys Letter with you all today. There are more on the horizon as well. Since I began this series back in February, The World of Kedoshim has grown. It is no longer just a vision hanging on my living room wall and in all honesty, there is actually less space on that wall now. 

As I begin to work on the next part of the story in book 3, this letter takes us to the end of Finding Philemon, just before Demas and Onesimus leave for their journey to Rome around 95AD. Many of the Founders are long gone and this one letter will usher in the final era of The World of Kedoshim. Yes, I know, I'm just getting started, but do not worry, there is a specific reason I am releasing this Ichthys Letter now, feel free to post your guesses in the comments below. 

The Ichthys Letters: Joy and Wisdom

Greetings, 

I am excited to finally publish the first draft of this letter for my newest blog series, The Ichthys Letters. This is a series I have actually been working on for most of February and to have these tie into The World of Kedoshim is going be a lot of fun. There will be little connections in these letters to stories I'm working on, and even stories that I plan to write down the road. I pray you will find these letters encouraging in their own right and that God will speak to you through them as much as he has spoken to me through creating them...

The Purpose of Pain- An Emotional Recovery

Greetings,

In my last post, The Purpose of Pain- An Emotional Reality, I shared about the reality of emotional pain. It is important to realize this reality but it is also important to realize that there is a road to recovery. I know what you're thinking, why on earth is he talking about recovery, I can deal with this reality in my own way and on my own time.

The Purpose of Pain- An Emotional Reality

Greetings,

I started this little series a while back, the first post is entitled, Thoughts on the purpose of pain. I've been thinking about it a lot more lately and thought I'd share a bit more.

Welcoming Hannah Joy

Hello Everyone, 

I know it's been quite a while since my last blogpost and I've got some I will be posting this week before I head back to work. For today, I wanted to share my account of we welcomed a beautiful little girl, Hannah Joy Elliott, into our family this past week and it was a miracle to say the least.

As many of you know we usually plan to have home births, both Leyla and Caleb were born in the comfort of our home and we had planned to do the same with Hannah. However, there were some unforeseen complications with her delivery. These complications we completely unexpected, both the good and the bad.

My wife, Traci, went into Labor at home around 10:30pm on September 21st and was doing quite well. We were only 6 hours in and we thought that Hannah was going to be here with in the next hour, but for what ever reason she could not get any further. No matter how hard Traci tried over the next several hours nothing changed.  She was bleeding pretty badly and it seemed to be getting worse. WORRY!!

So, in the blink of an instant we were talking about having to go to the Hospital. As we arrived at the hospital, it was about 10:30am on September 22nd.  The Doctor on duty met with us and checked everything out and said that she wanted to wait for a while before making any major decisions. While we waited nothing changed, what ever was keeping baby Hannah from coming into this world was not letting up. FEAR!!

While we waited, we heard of the arrival of other babies in the maternity ward and discouragement sank in. My mind began to wonder both about the baby and about Traci. Her lips had turned pale blue and her skin as pale as could be. The blood loss continued to control the entire birth. It was not a very easy feeling.  I could do nothing but pray and ask others to do the same. DISCOURAGED!!

Finally, the Doctors were able to get the bleeding to stop but Hannah still had not come down enough.  We sent out mass amounts of texts to those we could get a hold of and asked them to pray. Others called us saying things that were beyond comprehension as they prayed for us. It was as if the Lord God had moved in the hearts of Men and Women all over and that a war was waging, Satan would not take the life of our little Hannah or my beloved wife Traci. PRAYER!!

The prayers of the people spoke louder than all the discouragement around us and we were not about to give up. Some of those that prayed, shared of the promises that God had given them about our daughter and little by little the light began to gain the ground discouragement and worry has taken. Little glimmers of hope surrounded us all and unknowingly, God continued to work HOPE!! 

Our hearts slowly began to sparkle with peace and even in the midst of despair we knew we'd see our little Hannah that day. ENCOURAGED!!

Finally the Doctors had chosen, "We are going to prep you for a C-Section." Preparations began and while our hearts desire was that God would work a miracle WE WERE AT PEACE!! As they came in to take us into surgery, the doctor said to the nurse, "lets check her out one more time." Immediately Every thing changed...  PEACE!!

Close to 8pm on the 22nd the nurse stopped everything that she was doing. "Your going to give birth in the next hour or so." WHAT?? WE THOUGHT?? Well, not any more. At first we doubted but then the doctor confirmed and after just one push, our little Hannah was coming out all on her own. With in the hour, Traci held our beautiful daughter in her pale skinned arms and kissed her with her pale blue lips. REST!! 

IT WAS A MIRACLE!!!

We found out later that the situation was more dangerous that we thought, Traci had a partial placental abruption. This was what they assume had stopped Labor, if it had gotten worse things would have been a lot different. It could have been very serious and it was for a while, but God spoke life into both Traci and little Hannah through the prayers of the people and the knowledge of his peace within our hearts. JOY!!

God's hand was upon us and everyone involved, Satan's hold was vanquished and life truly prevailed. I will always remember that day and that God watches over us and that His glory will always win. LIFE!!

Thanks for taking the time to read this post, I hope and pray it will bring encouragement to all who read it. God is always with you and to those who claim God does not exist, you weren't there but HE WAS!!

Blessings in Christ and Thanks again for visiting us at "The Gathering Room."

"Times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord." 45.3.20

M.J. Elliott

A Vision Changed

Greetings Dear Readers, 

It feels like it has been a long time since I last wrote a post like this, but I've got the motivation today so I'm going for it. Lets see where it takes me.

First off, I have to admit something to you all. I've been struggling as of late. I know, I know, you struggling, unheard of, I don't believe it. Well, it's true and it's okay to believe it. :-). Its been an interesting month and a lot has happened in our lives since my last family update back in February. I won't bore you with all the details, so lets just say if you want the details just ask and I'll share them in another post.

Lets, get to the point. We are awaiting the birth of our 3rd child in a few months, I've been promoted, our kids have been learning and growing, our ministry website has began to build a following and God has been changing our hearts.  That about sums it all up so lets move on to the motivation behind this post.

Secondly, The struggle I've been working through has been one of identity. Yes, it's true, I've been searching deep with in, longing for God to show me who I am today, I've been searching for a new voice so to speak. I've been wondering what am I passionate about now that my spirit has changed. The time that my family and I have been here in California has given me an entirely new perspective on life, but where has all this change been leading?

To be honest, I still don't really know. To be completely upfront, I had given up on trying to figure it all out. However, I have experienced a few things recently that have given me motivation to begin the search again. I will bring you the details of these experiences in a post I will share later this week but for now I want to leave you with a new vision that I believe God has given me. It is posted on my updated author page on Facebook, but here it is for you today.

"Live your life to the fullest, embracing each refreshing moment that comes from the Lord. Be free to share God's encouraging love with any and all who will accept it and use what God has shown you as the vessel to do so."

Blessings in Christ and Thanks again for visiting us at "The Gathering Room."

"Times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord." 45.3.20

M.J. Elliott

What is the Balance

We've all had those weeks when we've felt like there was nothing really worth putting time and energy into right?

Sometimes it can feel like what we are doing really has no purpose and other times it can feel like no matter what we fail to complete what ever task we are working towards.  All to often these kinds of feelings can keep us from noticing what really matters. For example I posted one of my quotes to Facebook and twitter a few days ago what spelled a word wrong.  It was a simple mistake, purposefully posted for this very post, but no one really noticed it. Lets see if you can pick out the mistake now...

"Today is a great day to remind yourself that there is a reason that the tasks that seem meaninging actually mean the most."

 The mistake was in the word meaning, I added an extra 'ing' at the end of the word instead of a 'less'.  Here is the corrected quote, in case you want to share it it any one...

 "Today is a great day to remind yourself that there is a reason that the tasks that seem meaningless actually mean the most."

How does this connect with our feelings though? Well, the extra 'ing' does completely confuse the reader. It also places a pretty big damper on what I'm trying to get across in putting the quote out there in the first place. Sometimes there is more to the picture that what gets across.

"And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day." Genesis 1:31

One the surface, we may feel like we've really screwed up or that we really don't know why we are doing something, but what it comes down to is that with God we can never really see the full picture of what he has planned for us. It is the same with the quote.  The purpose of the quote was to remind the reader that sometimes what we do seems meaninging *Ha, got you again* meaningless. However, the reality is that the smallest detail can mean the most. 

Think about what ever you are going through today, 

For my family its getting the kids to sleep better at night, If I were to focus more on the fact that my kids aren't sleeping well, I might miss the reason why they aren't doing so... (IE, full diaper, bad dreams, itchy sunburn, stomach ache or many other possible things)

Instead of focusing so much on the bigger picture, as I tend to do, why not look for your purpose more in the details or in the smaller things, as my wife tends to do.  Don't get me wrong, it's important to look at both pictures but you also need to remember to find the balance between the two.

"A just balance and scales are the Lord's; all the weights in the bag are his work." Proverbs 16:1

Blessings in Christ and thanks again for visiting us at "The Gathering Room"

Stand Strong and continue to believe the teachings given to you... (2 Thes. 2:15b NCV),

M.E.

Dealing with Discouragement

Have you ever gotten to a point in which you have felt as though there was nothing left for you to accomplish in your present place in life? Maybe you felt like it was time to move on but there didn’t seem like there is anything coming over the horizon? Or Maybe you had this underlining desire to do something more and couldn’t engage in what was currently going on around you?

 Let me assure you right now, dear reader, they are natural and there is nothing wrong with feeling that way.  No one ever said we couldn’t make something more of ourselves. On the other hand though, no one ever said that we couldn’t bloom right where are planted. Feeling discouraged is a part of life and it is in those moments of discouragement that we can find fulfillment, if we are open to it. God has many wonderful things in store for us as we live our lives and he desires for us to find peace. 

 While we are only human and will always have to deal with feelings of discouragement, we don’t have to deal with them on our own. Jesus said in one of his final messages to his followers that “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 ESV) This is a great word of encouragement for those that are facing discouragement, because they remind us that we truly don’t have to face those feelings on our own.

 You may be asking, what does this have to do with the questions that were shared in the beginning?  Well, those questions all come back to discouragement. You see, as we begin to ponder these questions we are letting doubt seep into our hearts. We are truly dealing with discouragement because discouragement and doubt come hand in hand. 

 When you doubt yourself, you are open to intimidation and that leads to deterrence. Deterrence can keep us from seeing what God is doing through our lives, thus leading us back to the questions that we asked at the beginning of this post. It is difficult sometimes when questions like these begin to make their way to the forefront of our minds. The important thing to remember is that God says “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9a ESV) it may not feel like we are weak in those moments in life, but the reality is that we are.

 The reason behind this is not because discouragement is a weakness, but because if we don’t properly work through those feelings of discouragement we become vulnerable to that intimidation mentioned before.  Our ability to believe in ourselves can be lost, leading us to make wrong choices. Maybe God has us planted in our perspective places for a reason we will never really understand. Maybe God feels that instead of moving to the next big thing we simply just need to rest in His will for a season. 

 Maybe God wants to use us as a witness of his love for those that are engaging in things that aren’t really that honoring Him. What it comes down to is this, feeling discouraged is a part of life and through giving those feelings to Him, and we can find fulfillment, maybe even in a way we really never thought of before. Here is a word of encouragement for you today, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV)

Blessings in Christ and thanks again for visiting "The Gathering Room"

Stand Strong and continue to believe the teachings given to you... (2 Thes. 2:15b NCV),

M.E.