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You are here: Home / Other / Hopefully leaving on a jet plane

Hopefully leaving on a jet plane

February 13, 2014 ·

Before I say anything else that isn’t nearly as important, I have to say thank you for all your prayers for Hannah. I cannot even tell you how much it meant to read your comments and know that she is being covered in prayer. Her mom texted me to let me know she and Hannah read through the comments with tears streaming down their face.

And I’m praying for each and every one of you who left a comment with a prayer request. Make no mistake, there are some heavy burdens out there.

Which makes it seem silly for me to ask for your prayers that I manage to get home somehow on Thursday. I’d finally decided to pay the fee to change my flight to take me through Chicago, but then that flight was sold out and so now I’ll be landing in Atlanta around 2:30 p.m. and hoping that I can make it out to get home to San Antonio. But, if not, I’ll be spending a cozy night in a chair in the Atlanta airport using my big puffy coat as a pillow. I’m sure it will be every bit as restful and relaxing as it sounds.

But, in spite of potential travel woes, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Virginia Beach. And I got to see something I’d never seen before when I watched it snow on the beach yesterday. If that’s not enough, there was someone out in the waves surfing in a wetsuit. What on earth? I wanted to applaud him or shout my encouragement but I was too cold to get up from where I sat in my hotel bed covered in a down comforter.

Anyway, here are just a few quick things for today:

1. I wrote an article on Valentine’s Day for BookPage. You can find it here.

It was so fun to do a podcast with Kat from Inspired to Action. You can listen to it here.

And I loved doing another podcast with Heather MacFadyen. Although I was worried the whole time about whether or not she’d be able to make it to pick up her kids in the midst of a Dallas snow storm. You can listen to that here.

Don’t forget about the contest to describe your marriage (or waiting for marriage) in six words. There are fabulous prizes to be had. You can read all the details here. And you should check Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for the entries because they are both hilarious and heartwarming.

2. I loved this I Am Second video by former Bachelor star, Sean Lowe. You can watch it here.

3. This was a great post about marriage that rang so true to me from Edie. Perfect reading right before Valentine’s Day.

And that’s it. Hope you have a great Thursday.

Maybe if I get stuck in the Atlanta airport overnight I can do a very special edition of Fashion Friday about the do’s and don’ts of airport fashion.

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Comments

  1. Leigh

    February 13, 2014 at 12:59 am

    Oh, Melanie, you can be sure I am already praying for you to get home. It’s a selfish prayer, really, because I know if you can’t get home then you can’t come to Katy for your book signing Saturday and Katie and I are so looking forward to seeing you! Seriously, praying for safe and easy flights, on time connections and a plate of enchiladas waiting on you when you get back to San Antonio.

  2. Debi

    February 13, 2014 at 1:02 am

    Know you are covered in prayer for safe travel home and, God willing, in a timely manner.

  3. susan

    February 13, 2014 at 5:38 am

    God be with you

  4. emma @ {from my little pink couch}

    February 13, 2014 at 6:52 am

    Bless, girl! Hope you make it home ok! The Sean Lowe video is precious … in the spirit of the Olympics you should watch Scott Hamilton’s I Am Second video … what a story he has! Safe travels!!!

  5. Tracy

    February 13, 2014 at 7:05 am

    I hope you make it home! My hubby once spent a LONG night in the Atlanta airport. They gave him a paper-thin blanket for his trouble. They also gave him a food voucher even though there were no restaurants open over night. So at least you have that to look forward to. 🙂

  6. Cherie

    February 13, 2014 at 7:08 am

    Safe travels home! It was so nice to meet you and hear you speak. You are a delight!

  7. Vicki B

    February 13, 2014 at 7:42 am

    May Grace be the wind beneath Southwest’s wings and deliver you safely back to your darling family.

  8. Lauren

    February 13, 2014 at 8:11 am

    I meant to comment yesterday, but got interrupted …
    Please tell Hannah and her mom, they have my prayers.
    And I am praying you get home today—-

    Blessings–

  9. Elizabeth Hoagland

    February 13, 2014 at 8:37 am

    Melanie!

    First, prayers for safe travel. Second, wanted you to know I wrote about your hysterical book, The Antelope in the Living Room in my blog this week. Guessing you saw Ann Voskamp wrote about it too! (She’s a blast. We’ve got her wanting to return to Ky., I’m proud to report. She’s buds w/one of my BFF’s, Liz Curtis Higgs!) I shared a crazy Valentines Day story you may get a kick out of in the blog to segue into your book. You are my favorite discovery of late. :). Love your writing. You can reach my blog by either googling Worship With Words or by going to:www.elizabethhoagland.com

    May God bless you & your family abundantly.

    Hugs from Kentucky!

    Elizabeth Hoagland

  10. Kristina in GA

    February 13, 2014 at 9:10 am

    Safe travels! Hope you make it home to your family soon.

  11. Meagan

    February 13, 2014 at 9:26 am

    Prayers for safe travels & hope they get you back home to your people as soon as possible. (And a selfish motive on my end – looking forward to seeing you in Katy on Saturday. Hopefully while not interrupting precious yogurt eating time 🙂 )

  12. Laura

    February 13, 2014 at 9:33 am

    Just prayed for your travel home. The upside is, if you do get stuck, you will make a hilarious story out of it for us which makes you one of my favorite writers =0)
    BUT I hope you can get a hilarious story AND home quickly and safely!!!!!

  13. Mish

    February 13, 2014 at 9:47 am

    I wanted to tell you that I purchased The Antelope in the Living Room for my Kindle and last night I’m reading in bed while my husband was sleeping and I got so tickled!!! Do you know how hard it is to NOT belly laugh while reading your book??????? Oh my word is it hilarious!!! I’m loving it!

  14. Kayla R

    February 13, 2014 at 10:07 am

    I hope you make it home safely! I just finished reading your new book yesterday and as soon as I finished, I immediately thought about starting it all over again from the beginning – I loved it so much! It was the perfect mix of hilarious and thought-provoking and just plain fun to read. Thanks for writing it and sharing your story with us! It’s definitely going on my favorite book list 🙂

  15. Bobbie Lutz

    February 13, 2014 at 10:34 am

    Praying for safe travel to get you home! BUT…if by chance you were to get stuck…happy people watching! It could make for some fun posts at a later date…just sayin’! When life gives you snow, make ice cream!

  16. Kim

    February 13, 2014 at 10:38 am

    Safe travels! I’m in DC and my parents were supposed to be landing from Texas this afternoon for a visit. Ha, ha ha ha ha, ha. Not happening.

    At least there’s a Chick-fil-a in the Atlanta airport…

  17. Kelly

    February 13, 2014 at 10:44 am

    I am so praying you get home!

    But I have to admit I would not be sad about an airport version of Fashion Friday!!

  18. Angela Jernigan

    February 13, 2014 at 11:25 am

    I just finished your HILARIOUS new book, The Antelope in the Living Room. And I have got to tell you, that Carnival Cruise you refrenced to that had the engine fire… I WAS ON THAT CRUISE!!!! It was 1999, and me and my best girlfriend were having our last “hurrah” because I was about to become a married woman. My then fiance begged me not go on that cruise because he had a bad feeling something terrible was going to happen. Who knew he had ESP??? And you know that drill they make you do at the beginning of your cruise so that you will know what to do in case of an emergency…yeah, we decided we’d just take a nap through that drill… HAHA!! We had absolutely no way to communicate to our family (or our jobs) that , hey, we’re on a burning ship in the middle of the ocean and looks like we might be a few days late getting back into town. Alot of funny stories came out of that trip, maybe I should have you write the book for us.

  19. Margaret

    February 13, 2014 at 4:41 pm

    you should be fine, the weather in Georgia is warming up.

  20. Karen Beymer

    February 13, 2014 at 8:44 pm

    Just listened to your podcast with Kat.
    The truth is I was watching men’s figure skating
    On mute & listening to you. Thanks for the opportunity
    Hear how you & Gully met & how your lives are intertwined.
    I have a dear spiritual friend who lives 2 hours away
    But whenever we are together we just pick where
    We left off the last time we talked. It’s such a blessing to have
    That gift of a friend. Hope you are home.
    Blessings.

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Melanie ShankleMy name is Melanie and, in some strange twist of fate, I’m also known as Big Mama because I started this blog in July of 2006 when my daughter, Caroline, was not quite three years old and I was in the process of convincing her that BIG girls use the potty and BIG girls don’t have pacifiers, thus she thought BIG was the highest compliment in the land and began referring to me as BIG MAMA.Read More

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And just like that, her first year at Texas A&M is And just like that, her first year at Texas A&M is over. ⁣
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I loved Texas A&M as a student, but I love it even more as an Aggie mom. What it has given my girl over the last year has been beyond anything I even prayed for. The way she has grown in her faith, the incredible friends she has made, the professors and advisors who have guided her, the experiences she’s had, the Aggies beating Alabama at Kyle Field…it’s all been Ephesians 3:20 in action…more than I could ask or imagine. ⁣
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When she left home at the end of last summer it felt like an ending, but what it has actually been is the most beautiful beginning to the future God has written for her. And it’s a reminder to me that the best prayer we can pray as a mom is, “God, this one is yours. You are the author of her story and I trust you to write an amazing one”. ⁣
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(Photo by @doubllel)
In light of all our construction issues this week, In light of all our construction issues this week, I felt like it was time for a special edition of grown up story time because I remembered I actually wrote about the poor tile job in our shower years ago in Sparkly Green Earrings. ⁣
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This is when it pays to have a written history to help myself  remember I shouldn’t have been surprised by anything that transpired this week.
A friend texted me this photo the other day. It wa A friend texted me this photo the other day. It was taken my last semester at Texas A&M and I’m with a group of friends at a Wes King concert at Wolf Pen Creek. (Shout out to those of you old enough to remember what a gift Wes King was to Christian music in the early 90s.) I had recently found my way back to God after a long hiatus and wasn’t entirely sure how I ended up at this concert with some new friends who wore Jesus t-shirts, but was so grateful to be there because I felt content and happy for the first time in years. ⁣
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The point of this picture is that if you look on the left you will see a young Perry Shankle with glasses wearing a white t-shirt. And if you look on the far right you will see a young Melanie Marino with an aggressive side part. I don’t think we even spoke to each other at the concert that night. No one would have put us together because we were complete and total opposites. And I like to think God laughed knowing what was ahead. ⁣
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A year later, we started dating. And three years from just about the day this photo was taken, we were engaged. And currently, we’ve been married almost 25 years and are cleaning out the attic together today which is the height of romance. What I’m saying is dream big, kids. You never know what is waiting right around the corner, right in front of you, that will change your life. ⁣
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Side note: If you look closely you’ll see that my friend Jen and I are sitting on a blue striped comforter. Perry still sleeps with that exact comforter every single night so what I’m saying is that on that night back in 1994, he had no idea he was with his future wife and a blanket he would treasure, lo, all these years later. God is good. ⁣
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Big night out for Mom and Dad tonight. ⁣ ⁣ We Big night out for Mom and Dad tonight. ⁣
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Congratulations to the new Mr. & Mrs. Glass! Loved celebrating with you. 💕
Here’s a confession: I hate waiting. I don’t l Here’s a confession: I hate waiting. I don’t like sitting in the unknown. I’m not sure any of us do. ⁣
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The truth is waiting makes me feel anxious as I worry about timelines and what ifs and when I’ll have answers. And it dawned on me today that waiting is really the crux of Good Friday. ⁣
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I think one of the most powerful moments in the Bible is when Jesus is on the cross and with a loud cry breathes his last breath. Mark 15:38-39 says, “The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”⁣
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Think about that. The sky has grown dark, the earth begins to shake and then as Jesus cries out with his last breath, we learn that what has been an impenetrable, thick curtain in the temple - there to separate us from the Holy of Holies - tears in two. It’s powerful enough that this centurion, a battle-tested leader in the Roman army, witnesses it and realizes Jesus is absolutely who He claimed to be. ⁣
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Jesus’ death and resurrection are the moments that changed eternity and gave hope when all was lost. The ultimate victory of good over evil. But there was also waiting. ⁣
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The centurion may have realized that Jesus was the son of God, but everyone had to wait to see what that meant. They didn’t know the stone would be rolled away. They didn’t know the crucifixion was just the beginning of a story of hope and redemption. All they knew on Friday was pain and loss and darkness. They had to wait for Sunday and they didn’t even know what they were waiting for…maybe just a small sign of hope. ⁣
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Don’t we do that? Question if He’s good or if He will come through for us? Wonder how things will work out when all seems lost? Is He who He says He is and what does that mean for our life?⁣
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Here’s what I know. Jesus is the wonder our heart is waiting for. He is our peace, redemption, and salvation. He breaks strongholds, takes away our fear and shame, redeems what has been broken and lost. He does more in our lives than we even know to ask for. We are never so broken that He can’t restore us. ⁣
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All that we wait for, all that we hope for…HE IS.

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