Last month I asked you all to pray for Noah and I and our upcoming procedures. I went in on June 14th to have my pacemaker switched out. There was nothing wrong it was just time for a new one. Because of my past surgeries My biggest prayer leading up to this procedure was for no complications and to be able to come home same day. The Lord was so gracious in answering our prayers. The procedure went smoothly, I was the first case at 8:00 a.m and was discharged at 1:00 p.m. It was a smooth recovery and I’m so happy to have it behind us.
Counting Our Blessings
Counting Our Blessings
Saturday, July 6, 2024
Acceptance
Saturday, June 1, 2024
WE DID IT!
We did it! We survived Maycember. What is Maycember you ask? Maycember is that crazy month after April that is filled with every end of the year school activity known to man. Banquets, recitals, games, projects, finals, graduations, parties, activities, etc. It’s just as busy and crazy as the month of December.
Friday, April 5, 2024
Putting our Hope in things that Last
Hello sweet friends,
Thursday, February 29, 2024
New Year New Job
It was exactly a year ago this week that Jason got laid off from his job. I remember that day so clearly. It was a mix of emotions for us. We had some warning that it was coming so it wasn’t a complete shock. In a lot of ways it was a relief to no longer have the potential loss looming over our heads. Excitement filled our hearts as we pondered what God had for us next. We had big dreams of what our next chapter could be. There was fear in the unknown but also immense gratitude that God had already begun providing a financial cushion for us.
Monday, December 18, 2023
An Open Letter to my Husband on our 24th Wedding Anniversary.
An Open Letter to my Husband on our 24th Wedding Anniversary.
Saturday, November 25, 2023
Thanksgiving Service
Last year our church had a Thanksgiving service leading up to the holiday. It was a special time of hearing from a few people recount God's grace that had brought them through. We were all so encouraged that they decided they would make it a regular thing each year. I was asked if I could share this year and I jumped at the opportunity. I knew it would be physically challenging and take a lot out of me but I had no idea how much breath it would take out of me. I was thankful for my pal Donna and her willingness to help be my voice. It really is sweet to see the body help be my hands and feet and even my voice. I was so grateful for the experience and wanted to share with you the transcript of our time. I hope it blesses you to see God's faithfulness in the hard.
Good morning, Grace family. It’s my privilege to share this moment with my dear friend, Melody Lietzau. She’s already a dear friend to many of you and if you don’t already know her, you willwant to after you hear her speak from her heart. I’m going to ask some questions for Mel to answer. Here we go.
Mel, I have some idea of what it requires for you to be here. You tire quickly, It will likely take you two days to recover from your exertion this morning, you had to use the chair lift to get on the stage, you will need to use your ventilator to help your breathing and have a liquid meal between services – it’s not easy to do this! Why did you say yes?
I’m always so thankful for any and every opportunity to share about God’s goodness and Grace in my life and I want to do that for as long as the Lord will let me. This is also a great opportunity for me to publicly say thank you to my beautiful church family. I’m going to try my best to get through it without being a blubbering mess. There is just nothing I love more than to talk about the goodness of God and the wonderful Grace he’s poured out in my life. As I look around this congregation I’m overwhelmed by the love I continuously receive from you my church body. You all love so well and I have learned so much from so many of you about what it means to love others and to comfort others with the comfort you yourselves receive from the Lord, to weep with those who weep, and to give generously and sacrificially both with your gifts and time.
Mel, can you tell us about your family and how long you have been attending Grace?
Im married to my wonderful husband Jason and we have three kids. Noah is a student at Biola, Jonah is a senior in high school, and our beautiful Hannah who we had the privilege of adopting from China is a freshman in high school. We have had the privilege of being apart of Grace for over twenty years now. It is our family, Our Home. When we first attended this church I was not in this fancy chair and in fact I was running all over campus, walking up and down those front steps believe it or not. Getting down on the floor playing with the toddlers and babies in the nest. Even line dancing at the July 3rd picnic. I have had the incredible opportunity of sitting under incredible rich Gospel focused teaching. In that wonderful teaching I have been challenged continually to prepare my heart for suffering. I was often told from the pulpit if I wasn’t already experiencing suffering to prepare my heart that it would come eventually and was often challenged to ask where I was putting my hope. Was I putting my hope in the things of the world or in my sovereign savior? I look back and can see the ways the Lord was using HIS church to prepare me for the path of suffering that was to come.
Our family’s story is unique and filled with lots of grief, joy, redemption, God’s Grace, and lots of mercy.
Sometimes people are afraid to ask, but you don’t mind sharing! As a matter of fact, you are really good at educating people. So, what exactly is your diagnosis?
I was diagnosed with a rare form of Muscular Dystrophy about 12 years ago. Hard to believe it’s actually been that long. It is a disease that I was born with but didn’t actually start showing symptoms until late adulthood. It has no cure and over time all the muscles in your body including your heart and lungs begin to weaken and start to lose function. It has already affected my heart leaving me with a pacer and defibrillator, my ability to walk, eat and swallow, my breathing and talking, and so much more. Having a progressive disease where your body slowly deteriorates over time is Hard. You are constantly faced with having to grieve loss and just when you begin to accept one loss you are hit with another one. It’s not just me who feel those losses but the people around me feel them as well and grieve for me. so often it can be difficult for people around me to accept and understand this.
What bible passage has been helpful for you as you live with a degenerative disease?
People lovingly ask and want to know if there is a fix for this. They want to know if I will ever get better or they will ask if I have seen any improvements in my condition. The answer I usually give is physically no but spiritually yes.
I often point them to a verse that has been one that I have leaned on and gained much hope from. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
I want them to understand that although my outer body is wasting away my inner body is being renewed day by day. This is the way God is putting his glory on display in my life. He is continually growing my heart and dependence on him. as I lean into him for strength and leading.
He really does draw near to the broken hearted and I think sometimes we can miss it as we are expecting him to take our hard completely away.
We have expectations in the way he draws near to us but the lord always draws near in the ways that he thinks are good for us.
Sometimes that means not taking the difficult away but helping us walk through it.
I’m so thankful that The Holy Spirit is continually working on the interior of my life and transforming my faith. Not only making me more like him but giving me a longing and a hope for heaven.
How have your thoughts about heaven changed?
I’m consumed every day with the thought of heaven. Tracy Manson and I would talk about that a lot. Most of you know Tracy. She was a member here at Grace who battled cancer and went home to be with the Lord recently.
Through our sufferings we created a special bond and we would spend time regularly together. We would often talk about how before our diagnosis there would be many days where we didn’t think much about eternity with our Heavenly Father. We went about our lives as busy moms and wives and didn’t really give it much thought. It’s not that we didn’t have eternal hope we just weren’t consumed by it. Walking a hard road of suffering puts you in position where it’s all you think about and long for and oh what a gift that is to be consumed by the hope of eternity. That is the grace that is bringing me through.
Mel, you shared with me that in an episode of season 3 of The Chosen, one scene really made an impact on you. It was when Little James approached Jesus to hesitantly ask a question. Little James’ body is crooked and he walks with a limp and a walking sick. After Jesus had just commissioned the other disciples to go out and heal the sick and the lame, Little James follows him out and has an emotional conversation with Jesus. Little James asks why Jesus had not healed him. Mel, how does the scene unfold and why did it make such an impact on you?
Rather than try to summarize the scene we are going to show a portion of the clip. I highly encourage you all to go home and watch the whole thing. The reason this made such an impact on me is because watching Jesus talk to little James I could relate. I felt every word he was saying. I felt like Jesus was directly speaking to me giving me and others the assurance that our suffering is not the void of God’s good for us. Lets take a look.
I feel this immense gratitude that the Lord has found me worthy of this calling and has trusted me with this hard diagnosis to help proclaim his goodness. I want to use every ounce of my suffering as a witness to the truth and glory of Christ.
I don’t want to waste any of it by complaining and being defeated by my circumstances and not thinking about my eternal hope. I desire to use it as an opportunity to show how glorious Christ is and how he is so much more important than anything else this world has to offer. I take comfort in Paul’s words in Philippians 4:16 when he says My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Gods grace is sufficient and The grace and peace of the Lord becomes beautiful to us when we recognize just how much we need it.
It’s important for me to look back and remember Gods faithfulness and look ahead to his promises of eternity with no pain and suffering and remember that it’s all light and momentary. Giving thanks to Christ that one day we will be healed. It’s only a matter of time.
Saturday, August 19, 2023
The Pain of Grief
This week has been full of a myriad of emotions for me. Monday was the first day of school for both Jonah and Hannah. It was exciting as Hannah was starting High School for the first time and Jonah was entering his senior year but also sad as the realization hit for Jason and I that this was Jonah’s last year of High School. There were many sweet moments as I watched Jonah be the greatest big brother and Hannah have so much fun being on campus with him. I’m grateful for their close bond. It will be a fun year for the both of them.
As the week continued, the days got harder. I learned that one of my dear friends who has been battling cancer for the past year and a half went to be with the Lord. While this is a wonderful thing for her to be with her heavenly father, the grief in my heart and those that love her has been heavy. Tracy and I grew close because we could relate to one another in a unique way. We both had an understanding of what it means to be touched by physical suffering. Even though we would both never choose this path for ourselves, Tracy would often say that she was thankful it brought us together and that we were on an island together. Praying for one another and entering into one another’s burdens helped us keep our eyes off of our difficult circumstances. It was a privilege to walk along side her. I miss her deeply and I long for more time with my friend. I will do my best to live by her example of persevering in faith.
Yesterday was another emotionally difficult day. As many of you know my form of muscular dystrophy is a slow progressive disease. This means that all the muscles in my body including the muscles that help me breathe will weaken over time. It is becoming more of a struggle to get enough air to talk and my breathing is continuing to decline. I have now been set up with a portable ventilator that straps to my power chair. I will have access to a sip and puff device to give me the extra support I need outside of the home. While I’m grateful for these devices my heart is heavy with grief. Every constant stripping away tears at my heart. I feel the heaviness of this loss not just for myself but for those that love me.
Its been harder to fight for joy this week. I know Satan would love nothing more than to prey on my weakness so I’m going to fight. I will run to substance and the promises that have continued to carry me each and every day. I will take Tracy’s beautiful example of living out Isaiah 40:31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. I know that although my outer body is wasting away my inner body is being renewed day by day just like Paul talk about in 2 Corinthians 4:16. I love John Pipers words on grief and his acknowledgement that its real and its right. He says however that “God does not leave his children in the depths of sorrow. Joy comes eventually and it comes in God’s timing.”
This is a hard week and I will take the time I need to grieve these losses. I’m not alone the Lord draws near to the broken hearted and I don’t grieve as one who has no hope. This also he will use and I’m confident it will deepen my faith. If you think of me please pray that I would fight for joy and run to the one who holds me in his hands and that I would not fear that this would become a barrier for people.
Grateful for you always.