- Hi Mel- Hi.

- Thank you so much for being with us,

this is seriously a momentin life where I'm like

I gotta go home andjust thank Jesus because

your testimony has truly changed my life

so I thank you so much for sharing that.

So your first book was Wreck My Life.

- Yes.

- In Wreck My Life youkind of talk about taking

an intimacy fast which youdubbed, what did you call it?

- I called it kisslesstill next Christmas.

- I love it, I love it.

The one that I did, I justcalled it an intimacy fast,

it didn't have the cute name but.

- Well I needed a blogtitle so it was, it worked.

- Well tell me a little bit about that.

- You know I said I kindastepped back and looked at life

and asked God dismantle whatyou need and rebuild it.

One of the first big thingsthat he brought up to my

heart was my sexuality.

You know the very obviouson the surface relationships

that I was pursuing andphysical things that I was doing

and all that that entailsbut it was also the,

under the surface, thisreckoning with who I was,

who I was in his sight,who I was as a woman.

Where I needed to kind ofput on the blinders and spend

time with him.

And I came across thescripture that talks about

love the Lord, your Godwith all your heart,

all your soul, all yourstrength, all your mind.

And suddenly that alltook on a new form to me.

It because really nonnegotiable and so I was like

what does that mean?

What does that mean?

And what he just sort ofwhispered to my heart and kinda

coaxed me into, he waslike I want all of you.

I want all of you and Iwant you to know all of me

and so give me one year.

I just put up some really firm boundaries.

I said you know what, ifI'm gonna be in a monogamous

relationship with God I needto treat this relationship

like I would if was in amonogamous, committed relationship

with a person.- That's good, yeah.

- So I'm not gonnaflirt with anybody else,

I'm not certainly gonna bephysical with anybody else.

I'm not gonna seek theaffirmation of anybody else.

It was truly a putting on of the blinders.

God, I'm gonna fix my eyeson you, fix my heart on you

and I will treat everybodyelse as if I was in

a committed, monogamous relationship.

When I was able to step away and say okay,

just me and you God, it was really tender.

It just began to cultivatewhat it's always intended

to be with the holy spirit,a true relationship of like

I'm listening for your voice, speak to me.

Point out in me what I need to repent of.

Point out in me why I've beenstruggling with X, Y or Z.

God, who do you say I am?

And who are you, truly?

And when we get in theword, when we are in a state

of fasting, it's beautifulbecause it just shifts

your perspective.- Exactly, yeah.

- And it's, I started to justprocess and pray through that.

He began to draw up everyname of every individual

I had given pieces of myself away to.

And he just convicted my heart,you've never once brought

these names before me.

You've never once broughtthem to my throne.

You've never once sought forgiveness,

you've never once extended forgiveness.

See I think a lot of thetimes when we start to move,

we want, new year, new me.

Let me reset my focus, I'll do this fast,

it's a me focused act.

But fasting is neverintended to be me focused,

it's intended to be Godfocused and if we set our eyes

on the cross we see theultimate model of chain breaking

grace and that's forgiveness.

And so really that was probablyone of the hardest parts

of the year but it wasincredibly healing in that I

reached out to individualsI'd been involved with

or I extended forgiveness,or I sought forgiveness

or truly, if it was someoneI couldn't even remember

from like a drunken college get together.

I just even brought thatbefore the Lord, I'm like,

you know who they were, I don't.

- Well, hooking up, asyou know, is totally just

our culture today.

- What the flesh wants.

It's carnal, it's quick,it gives us satisfaction.

I think we try really, reallyhard to convince ourselves

that we can hook up in a detached manner.

We have become this culture ofcompartmentalized conscience.

We want to separatethings and do what we want

when we want it andseparate it from what God

actually intends and then westruggle when the brokenness

of these things collides back together.

The word calls us to die to our flesh.

The word calls us to sideline happiness,

or quick satisfaction,for holiness and for the

standard of God.

- What would you say tosomeone out there who is

involved in the hook upculture and they're just not

sure how to do that or they'refeeling like they can't,

like they can't change their ways.

What would you say to someone?

- I would just speak hopeover that individual.

To say they know theconvictions they wake up with

that Sunday morning wherenothing actually fulfilled,

outside of the temporaryon Saturday night and they

know that hole that runsmuch deeper than the longing

for a boyfriend or girlfriend.

They know that hole that isdeeper in them of longing

for true connectednessand yet they feel like,

I can't be with God, I'mdisqualified from that,

it's been too long, too much, too broken.

If these two chicks evenknew the extent of what

I have done or how far or,you know, the repercussions

I've seen they wouldn't beso easy to just casually

talk about a fast.

Oh but man.

All I would've needed tohear would be someone to say

his mercies are new every morning.

- I love that, yeah.

So in closing what would yousay to all of the single ladies

and gents out there?

What is your prayer for themin today's kinda crazy culture

where it makes it kindahard to be single sometimes.

- It does.

Oh, my prayer is that theywould be still and know

that he is God, Psalm 40, six, 10.

Know that you are seen, youare known, you are loved

and truly I would challengethem to rise up in that.

Let that stir something inside of you,

to know that you werecreated with purpose and that

you're identity is sure.

You're an image bearing creation of God

and that the intimacy you're longing for,

the connectedness you're longing for,

it's never going to be foundin the quick hook up culture.

It's solely and only evergonna be found in the

person of Jesus.

But I would pray that theywould rise up really boldly

in a culture where it'sreally hard to be bold.

I would love to see ageneration look different.

- Yes, come on.

- I would love to see ageneration look different

because they're not so easilyswayed by what the masses

are doing around them,they're more easily swayed

by the things that are eternal.

Also I just like feisty,bold people and I'm so tired

of everyone looking the same.

- We love that about you.

Mel, thank you, seriously thankyou so much for being here,

I know that you are goingto bring such fire and truth

to so many souls out therethat are watching this.

So thank you so much for being here.

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