Feb. 7, 2008 - My Man...
Hello dear ones!
It seems that I have been completely MIA these last few months when it comes to correspondence and family updates, and for that I am terribly sorry! Some of you may already know a little about the ongoing health saga we have been experiencing since November. Well, just yesterday, after months of Travis being mysteriously sick, having countless doctor and various specialists visits, ending up in the emergency room twice, being hospitalized twice (the most recent of which they kept him for nearly a week), a million needles poked in his body, and too many different tests run on him to count, it seems our prayers for a diagnosis has been found. (But now that we know what he has, in some ways I think it would have been easier NOT knowing... :)
The official diagnosis for my hubby is hypogammaglobulinemia, also known as Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID). Essentially, it is an auto-immune disease (appearing to be genetic in nature, although it has been acquired later in life) that is the milder version of the "Bubble Boy" disease where children have to live in plastic bubbles because they do not have enough immunities in their bodies to fight off germs and sickness. The dr. told us it was the opposite of leukemia, meaning he doesn't create enough of the components in his body known as IGG, where as someone with leukemia has too many of these in their body.
While there is no known "cure" at this time, the treatment is very expensive (it can be up to as much as $8,000 a shot) intravenous gamma globulin infusions, which normally people need every month for the rest of their life in order to stay healthy and out of the hospital with every little cold that simply won't go away. It takes 12 people donating blood to make one shot. Without these infusions, people with this disease are completely susceptible to sickness because their bodies have no way of fighting things off, which means they are chronically ill and in and out of the doctor's office or hospital.
The doctor was very honest with us about the serious implications of all of this for Travis and our family, but he did say he had a gut feeling Travis would improve, especially since he is so young. He said he has seen that happen before, but only a couple of times. He suggests doing the IVIG treatments for a year and then taking him off of them so they can see if Travis' body is able to take care of itself again.
So, we are praying and discussing our options and waiting to hear from the insurance company to find out if there is a possibility they will cover the IVIG infusions. In the meantime, they are also doing a little test for the next 5 weeks to see if there is any way that Trav's body can bounce back on its own when given a few small virus challenges to overcome. This will be the extra proof they need that he indeed has hypogammaglobulinemia.
Because this can be a hereditary disease, there is a possibility that Clarke could have the mutated gene as well. This is something we will be watching for as he grows, but thankfully it appears he doesn't have any of the signs right now.
I do have to say thank you to everyone who has been praying for us, giving us sweet cards, making phone calls, coming to visit, making dinners for us, leaving kind comments, and helping us watch Clarke during doctor's visits and hospital stays. Ya'll have been so sweet and encouraging with everything going on in our lives. We thank the Lord for you with all of our hearts!
While this is a new and seemingly daunting road that we are traveling down right now, we praise the Lord we do not have to do it alone! :) When I am tempted to worry about the future, the potential struggles ahead of us, I have to remind myself that our God is so faithful and loves us more than we could ever possibly know. He is our strength when we have no strength left at all (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
How grateful I am for His unfailing love. :)
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May. 10, 2007 - Sometimes...
~ Sometimes... my heart just feels like it's going to BURST. 
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Oct. 12, 2006 - October Afternoon Praises
beautifully colored leaves blowing all around me.
differentiate between Banana Peppers and Jaloros in preparation of our dinner.
(Even amidst the scorching pain of fiery hotness searing our throats and burning our eyes
as a result of my confusion, we were still able to laugh.
) 
vs. 
Praise God...
...for recent and upcoming weddings between special people who the Lord
Praise God...
awaiting his entry into the world.
Praise God...
Praise God...
...for this life we have to live...
...for His graciousness even in pain...
...for His unfailing mercy even when we don't deserve it...
...and for His ever-faithful LOVE and FORGIVENESS.
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Aug. 25, 2006 - My Spiritual Beliefs
On a semi-regular basis someone e-mails me and asks me about my personal spiritual beliefs, as well as my demoninational background/affiliation. They specifically would like to know how those influenced the way I wrote What Every Girl Should Know. Every time I am asked this, I am impressed that these indivuals have taken the time to check into what sort of beliefs will be expressed in my book before they decide if they would like to purchase it. It is highly commendable for one to be cautious when choosing what kind of spiritual doctrine will be fed into the impressionable minds of our young people, and in this case, our girls. That is why I applaud these individuals for their careful thoroughness!
With this in mind, I would like to take a moment to address the question of doctrinal beliefs, so that in the future, parents, mentors, youth leaders, and anyone else who may be looking at our resources, can be confident in the materials they choose to purchase from us before handing them over to that special young person they know.
First off, from the beginning I've understood that there would be many different people with various backgrounds picking up my book to read it. That is why I aimed to write strictly what the Word of God said on issues, and leave the interpretation to the parents. For example, when we come to the chapter about boys, I list what the Bible has to say about singleness, modesty and pureness of heart, and exhort the young women to follow these verses in Scripture (check out this chapter breakdown, including Scripture references, here). Then, I urge the girls to search their hearts about what the Lord is telling them, and to discuss it with their parents. This is the same outline I use for every chapter in the book.
I truly endeavored to approach each issue from a strictly Biblical perspective - versus supporting any one denomination or another. However, for those of you who would like to know about my church background, I had the privilege of growing up serving in a wonderful Southern Baptist Church all my life (whose beliefs I personally agree with, and are listed very thoroughly here). However, I do not expound on one denominational belief or another in this study. I simply address the basics - first, how to begin and maintain a personal relationship with the Lord, and second, how to grow in Him daily.
It is my desire that everyone who comes to our site will be able to understand my heart and what my purpose in writing What every Girl Should Know has been. I simply long for the young ladies in today's society to understand, beyond a shadow of a doubt, what this life is truly all about. And what might that be, you ask? Simply this: having a deep and personal relationship with our precious Heavenly Father.
I hope this helps to answer some very important questions for all of you. If you need more specifics about my workbook, simply check out our frequently asked questions or chapter breakdowns and Scripture references pages on our site. While you're there, you can download a free excerpt of What Every Girl Should Know that we have available for download as well. Also, if you feel you need to get to know me better personally, please come back often and visit this blog. Hopefully it will give you as small "glimpse" into my little life. 
If there are other questions or comments that may be on your mind, please don't hesitate to drop me a line (contact@heartofvirtue.com)!
I always look forward to hearing your feedback and welcome your e-mails. I thank God for the blessing of being able to get to know you dear people through this business and ministry He has brought me to. I am so truly grateful for all of you. 
Have a beautiful day in the Lord, my friends!
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Jun. 5, 2006 - Cultivating Childhood Dreams
I'm updating my site today with a few new testimonials and reviews, as well as a section for some uplifting articles. I decided I'd post one that I wrote for English class this last semester about childhood dreams, my desire to become a writer and the encouragement I received from my dear grandmother. May this be a blessing to all of you...
Cultivating Childhood Dreams
Written by Myklin Vinson
April 27, 2006
Ever since I was a small girl, becoming a writer has always been a dream of mine. As a young child, the idea of becoming a world-famous author, and having people pick up my published works in libraries and bookstores across the globe, was nothing short of thrilling. I smile now as I remember my first feeble attempts at novel writing, as an enthusiastic, yet grammar-challenged, misspelling-prone girl of seven years old.
After reading the widely popular American Girl series, I decided to try my hand at writing something of my very own. The result of my effort was, a mere eight months later, that I had written a story about a young girl’s life in the colonial days, which ended up being a strange mix of characters and story lines from my favorite American Girl series, Anne of Green Gables, and Little Women. My story consisted of six whole pages of scribblings, comfortably sandwiched between two brightly colored, pink pieces of construction paper (which, in my mind, constituted a front and back cover), sloppily bound together with pieces of masking tape and a few strategically placed staples. “Ah, this,” I told myself, “is my masterpiece. This is my first book.” Knowing that this great work of mine would someday be heralded as my crowning achievement, I chose an equally impressive title for it, simply: Rebekah Tanner: 1776. Yes, at the time I amazed even myself with the brilliance of my seven year-old mind. This first accomplishment was just the fuel I needed to spur on my desire to write well enough to someday be published. Thus, my love for writing was awakened.
As I think back on that time of my life, I am reminded of how children have a very real need to show off the pictures they have drawn, songs they have made up, or books they have written. Beaming with pride, they pass the nearest adult their brightly colored drawings in which they attempted to sketch a likeness of a happy family and beloved pet. Of course, all the grown up sees when he or she looks at the picture is a dilapidated stick figure family and a dog, which, in reality resembles some sort of peculiar, droopy-eared, science fiction character. Unfortunately, too many children do not grow up receiving any sort of praise or recognition for their accomplishments, whether small or large. Granted, so often what the child comes up with is painfully lacking in maturity and skill, but after all, they are only young children. However, given the right encouragement and training, a young person can do whatever he puts his mind to. Who knows if this child could grow up to be the next Mark Twain or Michelangelo? It causes me to wonder how many opportunities adults miss every day to make a difference in the life of a child.
One adult, who was just that sort of encouragement to me growing up, was my dear grandmother. Having studied English and grammar extensively over the years, as well as having a love for any sort of writing, she showed me great amounts of support and enthusiasm when it came to my writing attempts. It was she who laughed harder than anyone else when, at the age of seven, I read her the part of my book where a pesky little lizard crawled up the leg of my heroine and gave her the fright of her young life. I remember how I beamed when she gave me a hug and told me how hilarious my story was. My grandmother proceeded to ask about my writing through the years when she would see me, and would try to persuade me that I should put my efforts into being published someday. Her belief in me was inspiring.
Years later, after I actually did have the opportunity to publish a real book I wrote, I signed a copy for my grandmother and brought it to her. By this time, her Alzheimer’s had progressed enough that she had completely forgotten about the stories I wrote as a child and used to eagerly read to her when she came to visit. Nevertheless, as I knelt beside her chair and held out my new book for her to see, I said, “Look, Grandma. I just published this book and thought you might like a copy of your own.” Looking up in total delight and complete surprise, she tightly grasped my hand and exclaimed, “I am so proud of you, honey!” Her blue eyes were twinkling up at me with so much love and pride that my heart ached. I could not help but think that she would never even realize what kind of influence she had in my life to bring me to this point.
Sadly, my dear grandmother passed away just five months ago, but she has left me with so many things that I am thankful for about her. Among them is her belief in my abilities and her encouragement for me to follow my dreams. How I wish that every child could experience the freedom of this kind of support and affirmation in his or her life. It is my prayer that I will someday be that kind of powerful influence in the life of my own children and grandchildren.
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Mar. 10, 2006 - Hard Lessons From the Past...
My, my... I've been a bit behind in updating this, haven't I?
So sorry! Life has just been wonderfully busy and full these days! I don't think I've told you all, but I'm actually enrolled in a few college classes this semester and I have really been enjoying going back to school! 
This has always been something I've longed to do, but the Lord has never opened the doors until now. You see, my junior and senior year of highschool I went through an enormous amount of health struggles, some of which included 6 different surgeries on both of my hands and elbows due to nerve entrapment. Yes, it was caused by everyone's favorite friend.... Good ol' Mr. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome!
I had hoped and dreamed about going on to a university after higschool on a music scholarship so that I could pursue my piano-playing and composing. But, God had different plans! 
I was just glancing over the last chapter in the study I wrote for young women about the future and how God works in mysterious ways sometimes. Here is some of what I wrote nearly four years ago regarding the great lessons the Lord taught me through this hard time of my life:
Oh, I saw it so clearly then! This was a test. A test that I had failed! From day one I had been playing for my own reward, all the time thinking I was really glorifying God. Granted, there were those times when I got up to perform that my heart really wanted God to be glorified, but my general attitude was that of pride. I had fooled myself and everyone else into thinking that my heart was pure before the Lord.
This was a test of my priorities. When something I loved dearly was taken away, would I cling to it rather than to God? Was I truly playing this music to have others look at the Lord, or at me? How often had the words “I,” “me,” or “mine” sprung to my lips? It had been about myself and so sadly, I had lost my focus on God.
I fell on my face and cried for forgiveness to the Lord! I hadn't respond like Abraham who when asked to sacrifice his only son to the Lord, meekly answered in submission. Here I was begging the Lord not to take away this one thing that was so dear to me away! And what happened to Abraham in the end? God spared his son because he obeyed, and was willing to sacrifice a beloved treasure (his son) for His Lord (see Genesis 22).
...Through my little testing, the Lord has shown me so many blessings that are too numerous to count! Yes, my hands are still in pain, and yes I’m unable to play the piano like I used to. But, you know what? It doesn’t matter now! Jesus is my song! If I’m never able to play that song on the piano again, then I will just keep singing it in my heart until Jesus calls me to be with Him! I may never know exactly why God decided to remove something that I loved so dearly, but I am willing to never play again, as long as my Lord is here right beside me all the way."
(Excerpts taken from What Every Girl Should Know: AStudy in Love, Life and Faith - pages: 116, 117)
Reading this brought back all of those old feelings of helplessness as I struggled to find what it was that God wanted me to do, if it wasn't to be a concert pianist. I remember well the day that I sat down on the floor in my closet and buried my face in my hands. Weeping my little heart out, I finally surrended. I surrendered it all over to my Lord and Savior. I gave HIM my sad little beat up carpal-tunneld hands, my lifelong dream to play the piano, and my scary, unknown future. What a difficult time it was for me, but what a beautiful thing happened in my heart and life!
Because I was so limited in what I was able to do with my hands and arms for quite a while, I did not go right into college after highschool. I chose to apply myself wholeheartedly into discovering what specifically God had in mind for my life, through work and various kinds of ministries I could be involved in. He gave me such a freedom and a joy as I threw myself into His work! Excitingly, as I was going about this work, the Lord gave me a life-changing opportunity...
A dear woman of the Lord approached me about teaching at a local homeschool ministry that she and her husband were starting in the area. She told me of her idea to have a girl's class on all the things young women should know these days. It took a little convincing on her part and a lot of prayer on mine, but in the end I agreed to teach the class. Lo and behold, the material from that class grew into the workbook that I was later able to publish, and which launched me into the speaking, teaching and writing ministry I now have the joy of being involved with!
The Lord had to close one door back in highschool so he could open a new door! That has enabled me to actively live out His calling in my life, which is to reach out to and encourage those who are hurting and are in need of help. What an awesome God we serve!! I cannot begin to say how grateful I am to the Lord and for what He has done in my life...
~ He gave me a wonderfully loving and caring family to grow up in.
~ He allowed me to experience pain and struggles in my life so that I could learn from them and not take things for granted.
~ He gave me my health back so that I can be strong to serve Him.
~ He gave me this marvelous opportunity to share my heart with young people and parents on issues of purity, character and virtue.
~ And He gave me the man of my dreams, Travis, who loves, encourages and protects me, and never fails to make me smile.
What about you, my friend? What struggles has the Lord allowed in your life that have impacted you in a powerful way? How have they shaped you (in a postive way) into the person you are today? Whatever you have been through, or whatever you are currently going through, I hope you know that our Savior loves you and can be trusted 1,000%. I pray that He will do His work in your life and that you will be comforted and encouraged by the knowledge that He "considers your trouble and knows your soul in adversities" (Psalm 31:7).
~ 2 Corinthians 4:17 (KJV)
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Feb. 24, 2006 - Just tell it to Jesus
"Do not be afraid to tell God exactly how you feel
(He's already read your thoughts anyway).
Don't tell the whole world. God can take it -- others can't.
Then listen for His answer."
~ Elisabeth Elliot-Gren
Does anyone else struggle with this?
Why do I feel compelled to share every single one of my feelings with others? I truly need to learn to give all of my emotions over to my trustworthy and precious Heavenly Father. HE is the one who can handle every single feeling I experience, as well as supply the strength for me overcome them!
I will always remember what a friend of mine once said in Sunday School about this issue... She said that she was at work once and a customer made her terribly frustrated and angry. Knowing that it would be wrong to gripe and complain about it, indulging her anger with those around her, she thought she would just silently tell the Lord what was on her mind: "Lord, did you see the way that customer just rolled her eyes at me? I mean, can you believe she would be so arrogant after I tried to help her? Oooo, that just makes me so MAD." (I still grin thinking about this because she was so cute and animated about it when she told us! I can still see how indignantly she told us she had prayed!
) The neat thing was, that by the time she was done telling God alllll about it (*wink*), she said she no longer was upset or angry. She said she had settled back down, without ever needing to tell someone else about it. The Lord had diffused her anger and calmed her spirits.What a great example! How I pray that I will be able to take every emotion I experience to the Lord FIRST, before anyone else hears about it from me.
Besides, after I have the opportunity to pray over something and delve into the Scriptures to see what the Lord wants me to do about it, things usually make sooooooo much more sense. (Isn't it amazing how God works that way?? *smile*) Ahhhh, how our Savior seems to put such a proper perspective on the seemingly "complicated" issues we face! 
Thank you, Lord, for being my marvelous Comforter and Counselor. Thank you for listening to me, even when I don't make any sense or even understand what I'm thinking. Thank you for being patient with me, no matter how many times I fall. You are my wise and loving teacher and Holy Savior. Please give me a loving, compassionate and tender heart, just like Your Son, Jesus. I pray these things in Your precious name... amen.
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Jan. 24, 2006 - Encouragement for Writers...
“Nobody ever became a writer just by wanting to be one. If you have anything to say, anything you feel nobody has ever said before, you have got to feel it so desperately that you will find some way to say it that nobody has ever found before, so that the thing you have to say and the way of saying it blend as one matter—as indissolubly as if they were conceived together. Let me preach again for a moment: I mean that what you have felt and thought will by itself invent a new style, so that when people talk about style they are always a little astonished at the newness of it, because they think that it is only style that they are talking about, when what they are talking about is the attempt to express a new idea with such force that it will have the originality of the thought”
(20 October 1936; Life in Letters, pp. 313-314).
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Jan. 4, 2006 - "A Merry Heart Doeth Good Like Medicine"
That's why I found all these facts on smiling so much fun!
• A smile is a universal expression of happiness and recognized as such by all cultures
• A smile is the most frequently used facial expression
• It takes as few as five pairs of facial muscles and as many as all 53 to smile
• Regardless of the precise number of muscles used, smiling causes far fewer muscles to contract and expand than frowning
• Smiling releases endorphins and makes us feel better
• Even ‘faking’ a smile can lead to feeling happier
• People are born with the ability to smile (They don’t copy the expression, even babies who are born blind, smile)
• Babies reserve special smiles (Duchenne smiles of joy and happiness) for their loved ones
• A newborn shows a preference for a smiling face over a non-smiling face
• Women smile more than men
• Younger people smile more than older people.
• There are 18 different kinds of smiles used in a variety of social situations
• Human beings can differentiate between the ‘felt’ (Duchenne) smile (of joy and happiness) and the social smile – ‘it’s in the eyes’ (literally)
• A smiling person is judged to be more pleasant, attractive, sincere, sociable, and competent than a non-smiling person
I remember when I first started paying attention to how much I smiled. I was 11 years old and I was at the orthodonist's office, having x-rays done so the doctor could put braces on my teeth. The lady who was taking the x-rays was a kind and motherly woman with short, curly blond hair named Bev. She had a gentle soft-spoken way about her that I liked. I remember all of these things about her because she told me something that impacted me in a way she never would have guessed.
As she was taking my "pictures" I had to make all sorts of different mouth movements to get the best images of my teeth. When we were all finished, she looked at me and said, "You know Myklin, you have a very beautiful smile. When you get your braces off that smile is going to be even more lovely than it already is." Now, maybe she told every insecure, gangly 11-year old girl this when she was taking her x-rays, or maybe I was the only one, I don't know... But all I do know is that what she said made me stop and think. I couldn't believe that there was first of all ANYTHING beautiful about me and second of all that it would be something as simple as a SMILE!
) And to my surpise it felt good! People started smiling back! I realized that it made me feel better, even if I wasn't in a good mood to begin with. Soon it was coming naturally to my face more often than not. I started doing it more and more until I realized.... I couldn't stop. *grin* I'm not joking! It has become a way of life for me. Now I don't smile because the kind lady name Bev told me that I had a pretty smile, I do it because I can't help it. It's an outpouring of the joy that God has placed in my heart! I love to encourage and uplift people and one of the simplest ways in the world to do that is to give them a real smile.
I've seen such gloomy, pitiful faces on people in the stores vanish away with the kind gesture of a quick and genuine smile sent their way. What a blessing to be able to share that gift with others!!
(Hee hee, did I say "anyone"?? *LOL*)Look at Jesus Christ's joy and how He expressed it to others... Now, how hard can it be to share a bit of that joy of Jesus with other people around you by simply opening your mouth, showing a few teeth and smiling a little?
C'mon... Give it a try! You'll be glad you did.
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Dec. 15, 2005 - "This is the day that the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it!"
)Do you ever have those days where it just feels GREAT to be alive??? I sure hope you do because they are wonderful!
This day just so happens to be one of those days for me!! I am so extremely grateful for and aware of the Lord's goodness and graciousness to me. I cannot even begin to count all of the many, many blessings that have been showered down upon me from my loving Heavenly Father....but I think I'll try!
I'm thankful for:
- This time of year which always makes me reflect on my life and what's most important.
- God's provision - He's taken care of all our needs and given us even more than we need! Like a cozy and sweet little home to live in, vehichles that are currently in good running condition (this is ALWAYS a blessing!
) plenty of food on the table, and so much more... - Travis' PERFECT job which he absolutely loves, and which the Lord plopped right into our laps!
- A wonderful ministry and business that I love which God has given me through Heart Of Virtue...
- Two sets of the GREATEST family members in world!
- My best friend and precious husband, Travis. How the Lord knew that I needed him in my life! His strength of character, devotion, humor, fun-loving spirit, wisdom, joyfulness and tremendous love all bless and encourage me in ways I cannot even begin to describe! What a joy it is for me to be his wife and to try and make a happy and peaceful home for him to come back to at the end of a long work day. I am so grateful for him. *smile*
- And most importantly, God's gift of Salvation through His Son Jesus, whose birthday we celebrate this time of year!!
What are you thankful for, my friend?? Whatever it may be, I pray you take time out of your busy day to get on your knees and truly thank God for His blessings, His provision and His unfailing LOVE.
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