Melissa Schlies – Page 6 – Melissa Schlies

Love Learn Lead December 21, 2017

The countdown to Christmas is dwindling. In a few days Tony and I will get on a plane and head to the cold, northern shores of Lake Michigan to see our family in Wisconsin. There we will be greeted by one of the greatest gaggles of nieces and nephews ever. Every one of them will have grown way too much over the past year, which will make us feel both old and sad that we live so far away. But it will also make us savor our time with them all the more. As we prepare for the Christmas weekend [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-17T23:56:12+00:00December 21st, 2017|Categories: Christmas, Lead, Leadership Tip, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead|Comments Off

When Old Stories Become New

Have you ever heard a story so many times that you almost stopped listening whenever it was told? You knew the story, so why listen? You had it all figured out, so why pay attention? For me, I think there are many stories like that, and one of them is the Christmas story. I have heard and told the story of Mary and Joseph in the stable so many times that there’s been seasons where it almost lost it’s meaning. But interestingly, there has been other times, where the story came alive to me all over again. Surprisingly, for me, [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-17T23:58:31+00:00December 18th, 2017|Categories: Christmas, Faith, grief, Hope, Waiting|Comments Off

Love: My Favorite Books from 2017

“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.” ― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye I totally relate to what Salinger is saying in these words. Every now and then, I read a book and it feels like I have begun an incredible conversation with the author. Only, with the last page, not knowing the writer, the conversation ends. It [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-18T00:22:58+00:00December 14th, 2017|Categories: Freedom, Good Books, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Success, Travel|Comments Off

Peace on (our bleeding) Earth

Our country is bleeding. The first time I realized this, I was twenty. Two planes had just torn through the twin towers in New York City. I had come out of a class at college, and was walking through the student center, when I passed a classmate who looked like he had seen a ghost. He couldn’t tell me what had happened. I walked a little further down the hall and into a lounge where people had gathered around a TV. My sheltered belief that I lived in a safe country in a relatively safe world, was shattered. The news [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-18T00:24:45+00:00December 11th, 2017|Categories: Change, Christmas, Courage, Freedom, Hope|Comments Off

Love Learn Lead December 7, 2017

Happy Thursday! This past weekend, Tony and I went to a Christmas Tree farm with our closest friends, to cut down our tree. It has become a great tradition over the past few years. One that usually entails all the guys going ahead to scope out the best tree, while us girls slowly walk behind, shoving our hands in our pockets to keep warm, and talking about our favorite TV shows or catching up on the week. The guys find the trees, we give our approval, and then they are cut down and strapped to our cars. There is something [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-18T00:27:12+00:00December 7th, 2017|Categories: Christmas, Freedom, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Success|Comments Off

Wishing you a Very Hallmark Christmas

Since October, the Hallmark Channel has been playing Christmas movies almost non-stop. And I wish I could tell you I am immune to its candy cane coated version of life, but I am not. Over the past month or so, whenever I’ve felt under the weather or had to fold laundry, I have found myself sucked into another one of their love stories. She’s a lawyer who just wants to make ice sculptures and he’s the Christmas tree farmer with a broken heart. Or He’s a movie star looking for a place to call home, and she’s the woman planning [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-18T00:28:41+00:00December 4th, 2017|Categories: Christmas, Freedom|Comments Off

Love Learn Lead November 30, 2017

As usual, I am marveling at how fast another year is going by, and that we have already entered, as the song says, the most wonderful time of the year. Tony and I have started thinking about gift shopping for our long list of nieces and nephews that grew by two this year. And, as we live far from family, we’re figuring out how best to spend time with our loved ones. In hopes of starting our season off right, today I share some Christmas music I love, something that has helped me enjoy the Holidays more, and an old [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-18T00:30:36+00:00November 30th, 2017|Categories: Balance, Christmas, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead|Comments Off

What To Do With All Those Leftover (Feeling)s

If you’re one of those people who love Thanksgiving food (turkey, mashed potatoes, pie, etc.), then you know one of the best parts of the holiday is the leftovers. Some of my favorite memories of Thanksgiving involve eating pie for dinner, or making late night turkey sandwiches because everyone’s still up. Not to mention, eating roasted veggies with fried eggs for breakfast. Add a cup of coffee, and that’s what I call a good morning. Thanksgiving leftovers are the best—at least when we’re talking about food. But in my experience, food hasn’t always been the only leftover from the holiday. [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-18T00:32:15+00:00November 27th, 2017|Categories: Courage, Fear, Food, Health, Mental Health, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Love & Thankfulness

“If I do not feel a sense of joy in God's creation, if I forget to offer the world back to God with thankfulness, I have advanced very little…I have not yet learnt to be truly human. For it is only through thanksgiving that I can become myself.” ― Kallistos Ware, The Orthodox Way Every now and then, on Thanksgiving, I find myself eating at a table with people I love, when all of a sudden the host asks us to go around and share what we’re thankful for. Often, other than the usual yet true response—“my family”—my mind goes [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-18T00:41:47+00:00November 23rd, 2017|Categories: Food, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Uncategorized|Comments Off

When Your Name Isn’t On The List

At the end of eighth grade, I tried out for the high school football cheerleading squad. Wearing an oversized t-shirt and gym shorts, I lined up with my friends and the other girls trying out. For three or four afternoons after school, I learned what a Herkie was and sort of how to do one. I was taught to clap a certain way, how to belt out cheers, and to smile constantly. And at the end of the week, I performed a cheer in front of three judges to show them I had what it took to be a cheerleader. [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-18T00:43:13+00:00November 20th, 2017|Categories: Acceptance, Failure, Identity, Success|Comments Off

About Melissa Schlies

Love Learn Lead December 21, 2017

When Old Stories Become New

Love: My Favorite Books from 2017

Peace on (our bleeding) Earth

Love Learn Lead December 7, 2017

Wishing you a Very Hallmark Christmas

Love Learn Lead November 30, 2017

What To Do With All Those Leftover (Feeling)s

Love & Thankfulness

When Your Name Isn’t On The List

ABOUT ME

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