Notes from Melissa

Hello everybody!

I’m Melissa, Rhonda’s assistant.

Thank you so much for all the support for Cultivating a Home!  This is an exciting time. God is doing a new thing and it is great to have you along. I wanted to share some things with you today.

* So many of you have prayed for this ministry – for years! Thank you from Rhonda and me. Please continue to pray. Our sole desire is to be obedient to the Lord in playing a part in mentoring others in ways that impact hearts, their own homes, and their children’s hearts for Christ.

* Keep reading and sharing the blog posts! You can link to us through your Facebook page or twitter.

* Mark your calendars for our local gatherings we call “Cultivate.” We meet the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 6:30 PM.  If you’re in Jacksonville, FL, or happen to be passing through town, come see us. Rhonda’s family serves dinner ($3) and she shares on topics much like her blog posts. RSVP to me at melissa@cultivatingahome.com.

* Subscribe to the website.  There is place to do that on the side of this page. Email is a great way to receive each new blog post.

* “Like” Rhonda’s public Facebook page, Rhonda Ellis.  We’ll have parenting tips, questions, discussions and drawings there. Share with your friends, too.

* Rhonda’s now on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at TheRhondaEllis. (RhondaEllis was taken, you understand).

* Email me any thoughts or suggestions at melissa@cultivatingahome.com.  We welcome your input.

Kids’ Bible Study.

In other news, is your summer flying by?!? Waahhh! Ours too!  It never ceases to amaze me. We have enjoyed vacation, spending time with family and friends, church events and mission trips.

One fun thing we did this summer is my nine year old daughter, Molly, had a Bible study in our home that included her and several of her friends. We ate and then a young lady, ranging from college age to late 20’s, spoke on topics like Friendship and How to study the Bible. Then the girls played outside and ran around like crazy people :). I loved how it opened up conversations between my daughter and me.  She came to me several times after the studies to share her heart about what she had heard and how it had made her think about some things. She had great thoughts and questions.

This made me think of the ministry of Cultivating a Home and how we are also wanting to “open up the conversation” to bring about great dialogue. Rhonda and I and our readers want to know what the Lord is doing in your heart and what He is doing in your home. We want to encourage each other and build each other up. (See I Thessalonians 5:11.)

Stroll down memory lane.

Speaking of time flying by, Rhonda found this treasure of a photo. My husband Grant and I have been able to watch the Ellis kids grow up. I worked in their home many years ago helping her with her young kids and assisting in her home business.Because of that I grew close with them. Their two oldest kids were the ring bearer and flower girl in our wedding.

This picture below was taken one night when Grant and I were babysitting the four oldest Ellis kids. This brings about a dose of reality! These kids are GROWN now!  The child on my husband’s lap? He’s 20 years old now! The baby girl next to me? She’s heading off to college in a few weeks. The other two, the ring bearer and flower girl? They just graduated from COLLEGE and are now working adults! Painful, I tell you. Clearly we had to have been 10 years old in this photo.

Isn’t it fun how many things come full circle? I can remember so many times in the Ellis home when their kids were small like this. Now it’s me, passing along the things I know about the Lord to my young kids. It is a huge job and a great responsibility. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I look forward to sharing with you from time to time on here!

We’d love to have your input. That’s why we end our blog posts with a question.

What is something you did this summer? Is there a family that has influenced you? Are you investing time in another person/family?  Share away!