Uncategorized – Page 2 – Melissa Schlies

Looking Back at 2019

About a month ago, on social media, people were posting photo’s of themselves from 2009 next to photos of themselves from this year. It was called “The Decade Challenge,” as we are all heading into a whole new decade. For a variety of reasons, I didn’t participate. But this “challenge” did make me compare my 2009 to my 2019. For me, 2009, was one of the best years of my life. With my job, I went to both Chile and India. I climbed a mountain for the first time. I finally felt like I had a life and friendships outside [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-12-19T21:48:32+00:00December 30th, 2019|Categories: comparison, grief, Uncategorized|Comments Off

He Always Comes

As we close in on Christmas Eve, I thought I'd re-share this post from last year. It's a simple message, but one that's easy to forget. Merry Christmas, friends! One of my favorite books growing up was The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. Early in the story, one of the main characters, Lucy, finds herself in a magical, snow-covered land. The first creature she meets there is Mr. Tumnus who is half man, half faun. Though she is taken back by his appearance, he is very kind and they soon become friends. Mr. Tumnus tells [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-12-19T14:16:33+00:00December 23rd, 2019|Categories: Christmas, Hope, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Love Learn Lead December 19, 2019

Last Friday night, Tony and I baked Christmas cookies. Then we decorated them the next day with our best friends and their kids. But in between putting batches of Christmas tree shaped cookies into the oven, we watched Home Alone on TV. Neither of us had seen it in years. Though like any movie one watched over and over as a kid, we could still quote most of the lines—and not just the iconic ones. Some movies just stick with you, especially those watched at Christmas. This is a season rich with nostalgia and meaning. It’s a time when an [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-12-19T14:02:28+00:00December 19th, 2019|Categories: Christmas, Lead, Leadership, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Preparation, Uncategorized|Comments Off

The Whisper of Christmas

Underneath the hum of Christmas, some of us hear a whisper. It’s not one we hear in our ears, but rather one spoken to our hearts. Like the unexpected tug of an old memory, it speaks to us in surprising moments. When we’re waiting at the stoplight we get caught in every day. When a particular Christmas carol comes on in a store. Or while we’re stringing lights on our tree. This whisper reminds us Christmas transcends all the “more” it has become. Sure there is joy in all the cookie baking. We find revelry in the ugly sweater Christmas [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-12-16T12:17:00+00:00December 16th, 2019|Categories: Calling, Christmas, Faith, Hope, Uncategorized|2 Comments

Love: Christmas Gifts Ideas With a Story

In my most idillic thoughts, Christmas shopping looks like holding a Holiday inspired latte in one hand and bags of already purchased gifts in the other. It looks like walking down a small town street lined with adorable little shops filled with local or fair-trade goods. And of course, in this beautiful dream, snow fills the air. Oh what Hallmark has done to us all. In reality, for me and Tony, Christmas shopping often looks like a combination of long days shopping for our nieces and nephews, combined with hours scouring online for the right, age-appropriate gifts. And, as we [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-12-12T00:32:17+00:00December 12th, 2019|Categories: Christmas, Leadership, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Preparation, Story, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Happy Thanksgiving

To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven. —Johannes A. Gaertner May our celebrations with friends and family today, be our way of living out our gratitude. As we give thanks, may our joy overflow into the coming season. And as we enter into a greater awareness of all we have been given, may we touch heaven. Grateful for you. Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving, Friends! Do you feel mentally and/or emotionally overloaded by both real life and the approaching Holidays? If [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-11-20T20:18:58+00:00November 28th, 2019|Categories: gratitude, Uncategorized|Comments Off

My Favorite Thanksgiving Links

As I have shared before, hands down, fall is my favorite season. Give me the chunky sweaters, all the flannel, the apple picking, and the pumpkin flavored (almost) anything—I am here for it. And though many people may think Halloween is the best fall holiday, Thanksgiving is my favorite. Of course, it helps that I am not a costume person, and Thanksgiving involves baking (my happy place). But this Holiday that finds itself wedged in between Halloween and Christmas, offers many of us an extra long weekend, time with family or friends, and really good food. Also, for my family’s [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-11-20T20:14:54+00:00November 25th, 2019|Categories: Food, Good Books, podcasts I love, Preparation, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Love Learn Lead November 21, 2019

Friends, it is hard to believe we are closing in on Thanksgiving already. A week from today, we will be with friends and family, eating turkey and pie. Then, a week from tomorrow, the countdown to Christmas will begin. For many of us, I know, our schedules have already begun to pick up before the Holidays. With all the busyness, in some ways, I felt a little crazy to talk about self care on the blog this month. But if you have stayed with me on this journey, I hope you have felt valued and maybe even, you’re taking me [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-11-20T20:02:50+00:00November 21st, 2019|Categories: Balance, discipline, Good Books, Habit Making, Health, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Routines, Self Care, Uncategorized|Comments Off

An Open Letter to All My Fellow People Pleasers

Dear friends, I have a feeling there are more of us than we realize. “Us” being anyone who has spent more time making other people happy, than they have spent thinking about their own happiness. Or anyone who has felt it’s more trouble to speak up for oneself than it is to suffer the consequences. Chances are, you are one of “us,” if you’ve ever: Agreed to doing more than you can handle for a Holiday dinner, event, or party. Heard your boss say that you didn’t get time off for the Holiday because you were the only one who [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-11-13T16:33:05+00:00November 18th, 2019|Categories: Balance, Christmas, Conflict, Freedom, Health, Self Care, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Three Ways to Practice Self Care This Holiday Season

“Self-comfort numbs us, weakens us, hides us; it can be soporific. But self-care awakens us, strengthens us, and emboldens us to rise.” —Sarah Bessey Ever since I read these words from Sarah, in her latest book, Miracles and Other Reasonable Things, they’ve lingered in my mind. So much so that I am sharing them here on the blog for the second time this month. Never have I heard someone so clearly delineate the difference between self-comfort and self-care. For much of my life, I’ve engaged in self-comfort, while believing self-care was selfish. Only I didn’t realize the damage all my [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-11-13T16:07:49+00:00November 14th, 2019|Categories: Balance, Christmas, discipline, Habit Making, Health, Lead, Learn, Love Learn Lead, Self Care, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Looking Back at 2019

He Always Comes

Love Learn Lead December 19, 2019

The Whisper of Christmas

Love: Christmas Gifts Ideas With a Story

Happy Thanksgiving

My Favorite Thanksgiving Links

Love Learn Lead November 21, 2019

An Open Letter to All My Fellow People Pleasers

Three Ways to Practice Self Care This Holiday Season

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