Sweet Rainy Days in the South

Your life is an occasion, rise to it!

Life has been a little crazy lately and all in a good way. It’s been a while since I’ve written! As I sit here on a plane flying high in the clouds, I figured it would be a great time to write about my latest adventures. My destination that I’m headed to now will be next. It’s Colorado so be excited! One of the most beautiful places on earth, and on top of that- it’s October! Last weekend in the midst of hurricane, there was a lot of beauty that came out of such a tragic storm. I made the trek home for my sweet Brooks second birthday. No hurricane or flood could have kept me from this. The drive there wasn’t too bad with the rain. Now on the way home is a different story, all I could do was pray for God to keep me safe and let me make it whole. Cops and ambulances and cars in ditches all over the roads. The good Lord watched over me as he always does, along with my lead foot being put to a screeching hault because of the flooding. As soon as I got in Friday night I went straight to my grandmothers. She had surgery 2 weeks ago and I wasn’t able to be there, I was so happy to see her. It’s hard living away and not being able to be there to help the people that are so dear to me. For all who know her, know how much of a spitfire she is. She was supposed to be in the bed, and as I walked in the door she was rolling herself around the kitchen on her walker. And people wonder why I never sit down! It comes honest I tell you. As the rain pounded the roof, we ate pizza and sat there and talked for hours. I miss those sweet days of being able to have these sweet moments with her. Those are the memories I will never forget.

The morning started with a wonderful and rainy breakfast and shopping outing and catch up session with two of my very favorite people, Shea and my sweet baby Leighton. Then what was supposed to be a tractor birthday party at Lake Rabon for Brooks Saturday turned into a tractor birthday party in the fellowship hall with a blowup house! Of course the adults partook in this as well! There is no place I’d rather be than right there with my family and friends. Brooks had a wonderful time, got lots of fun gifts, and played his little heart out! It’s been so wonderful watching him grow, I can’t even believe he is 2 already. He’s such a joy to the family.

Sunday consisted of church and a random trip to somewhere I have been longing to go back to since I was a little girl- Hunting Island State Park. It lies on a barrier reef with over 5,000 acres and 4 miles of an ocean landscape like you’ve never seen along with a lighthouse that has views you will never forget. Mom and I were discussing when we visited when I was younger but cannot recall when exactly it was, all I know is it was a memory forever embedded in my head and heart. The beaches have been eroding since I was a little girl, there once stood 14 cabins on the island, and now there is only 1 left. Standing on the beach, I feel as if I’m standing on one of the foreign islands I’ve visited. There are Palm trees standing alone all over the shore along with fallen ones all around. The pain of the erosion is sad to see, but at the same time holds so much beauty to the trial. Standing at the top of that lighthouse watching the storm over such a vast and endless ocean was breathtaking. I’ve never seen anything like it. The intense cloud coverage and the ocean swells were insane. There was something erie about it but also mesmerizing at the same time. It never ceases to amaze me at what damage a storm can cause that always somehow turns into such beauty which can be a metaphor for the storms we endure in our lives. I’ve always loved storms, it was something that never scared me as a child. Rainy nights have always been my favorite and waking up to the sound of thunder have always given me a peace. I have always loved the sea as well. I love the sharp salty smell and the views and vastness of the endless horizon. Today made me feel so small, but so free all at the same time. What a great feeling ❤️ Still praying for the families who lost so much in this storm. I hope God does big things for their lives through this, he always does!

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The McLeod's

Welcome to our blog! We’re glad you stopped by and we hope you come back and visit. We want you to be a part of our journey! We are John and Chelsea McLeod. Best friends who are embracing the most precious gift of marriage and life. On the way to be full time missionaries and currently living a life mentoring those broken by addiction from both sides of the pain- loved ones and those struggling with addiction. Here you will find our recorded histories of life, love, struggles, and the journeys that encompass our wanderlust spirits all with an unfailing love for God and His ever so perfect redemption and grace over our lives. Here lies a safe place where our minds wander off into the deepest places with documentation to never be erased. We don’t want our memories to fall between the cracks somewhere, so we write. We don’t want to forget how far God has brought us, so we make records that will prayerfully live on for generations and give others hope who have lost theirs. We met in the most divine of appointments thousands of miles apart that only God could orchestrate. Had our first date watching a fiery sunset go down over the Georgia coast, and ultimately fell in love over kindred spirits that beat for where and what God passionately filled our hearts with. Hindsight, and years later, we can see that God had big plans all along that we couldn’t see. Through our broken pasts, He was preparing us for each other and a future of redemption and testimony. {{{{Everyone has a story and this is ours:}}}}} He’s a Georgia boy, she’s a Carolina girl. ----Hi, I’m Chelsea!---- I’m a native Carolina girl who loves to explore anywhere I’ve never been. An old soul and an extroverted-introvert with a deep heart that overflows with passion and a hunger for God to use me to change this world for the better. Mysterious and meek to the eye, and particularly passionate for the very things that set my heart on fire, especially the things and people that my heart beats for. I get filled up in the untouched outdoors where I can always see and feel His splendor. I am a Master cosmetologist by trade with a BA in Social Work and Counseling. These which intermix daily. I absolutely love the career that God has placed me in and daily, it allows me to love on people all around me. If I can make one person smile a day, my heart holds a fullness that keeps me coming back for more. I believe in forgiveness and miracles because I’ve witnessed them both. I don’t want my life to be about what I accomplished but what God accomplished through me. To me, I’ve learned that in life there is good and bad, right and wrong, excuses and no excuses. But alongside of these very things is engulfed with a ton of grace, growth, and redemption. I don’t ever want to pay the cost of not following my heart, by spending the rest of my life wishing I had. ----Hi, I’m John!---- I’m a born and bred Georgia boy where my blood runs strong with salt water. I was born and raised on the coast where everything I did was engulfed with water and the outdoors. I’m a bold soul with a gentle spirit who loves to help others in any way that I can to believe in themselves and God’s plan over their lives. By trade I hold the title of professional hunter and fisher with a 100 ton captain’s license. What started in Georgia took me out to Alaska where I found my career there, then south Florida and the open blue water. I’ve seen a lot and experienced a lot of God’s beauty and I will be forever grateful for that. Today I’ve taken on the title of “Fisher of men.” After enduring a wearisome season of addiction, God called me to use my pain to help others in addiction ministry and it has become one of the greatest joys of my life. It’s what I live for in showing people they can overcome something that most think they can’t. Offering hope where there is none. Testifying that something they always thought they would be, is only a season that God is ready and wants to use. Where Chelsea serves alongside me pouring into the loved ones. It’s where my passion is, it’s where we love to help others find freedom the same way we did. Today, Chelsea and I are grateful for our struggles because we know that what the enemy meant for evil, God used for good. Here we will write and share. Not to glorify us, but to glorify Him and what He is doing in our lives. The magnificent ways that He is moving and the unfathomable circumstances that He has and will bless us with. All glory goes to Him. We hope you enjoy!!

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