Happy Monday!

I am pretty lucky that I work in an industry where Monday is my favorite day of the week! It is not my only day off, but it's the only day I get to sleep in, run errands on my own time, and be seated long enough to even consider writing an entry in my blog! Today I was able to get the oil changed in my car, go to the chiropractor, workout, and even cook  my cats food for the next couple weeks (don't ask, she's high maintenance). After all of that was done my mom and I went over to my grandparents' old house with the intentions of taking the leftover of our things to the storage unit. My mom left me alone in the basement for 5 minutes and I promptly began going through pictures and newspaper clippings. My Granddad had newspaper clippings from the Lakewood Sentinal saved from his old city council days back in the 70's. It was pretty exciting!

Needless to say we didn't get anything productive done at the house today. Although I found some very priceless photographs, and we did get other things done that needed to be taken care of, all of the boxes are still in the basement. We are scheduled to close on selling the house in the beginning of May, although we feel like it will be pushed back a bit. My mom and I have been extremely blessed to have a neighbor's daughter buy the house from us. It feels like it is staying in the "family", and this has been a lot less stressful than we had anticipated.

As my three-day weekend is coming to a close, I have started my follow-ups to my letters, and have even received my first support check (no follow up required!). Last week I was feeling very alone and overwhelmed with everything I have going on, but today I feel at peace. God has given me three wonderful siblings who are some of the most selfless people I know, and even given our age differences still are my best friends (even when we live on opposite sides of the country). They remind me on a daily basis how great God is. I can feel Him with me minute by minute reminding me that he brought me to this, so he will bring me through it! I can feel everyone's prayers, and I have felt surrounded by support and love all week.

Thank you to everyone who is reading and supporting me spiritually through this journey, and to those who are considering supporting me financially. I will be setting dates for my fundraisers at the beginning of May, and will keep them posted here! I have also posted my support letter in a previous entry that has all of the information for supporting me financially for those of you who have not received a letter yet!

Support Letter

Dear Family and Friends,

This past year and a half of my life has been a complete roller coaster. While turbulent at times, it has

also been a very exciting journey where I have come to learn so much about life, myself, God and most importantly how they all fit together. Last March my family and I experienced a tremendous loss when my Granddad passed away. His death was not sudden, but peaceful and my last week with him gave me a lot of time to reflect on what trust and strength truly meant to my faith. This fall I am making a leap in my journey with Jesus to serve as an Intern for Flatirons Community Church, where I am excited to see what a career in ministry will look like in my life!

I will be serving alongside the teams in both children’s and student ministries at the Flatirons West Campus in Genesse. The internship will include reading different books, participating in various programs for personal development and church management, in addition to serving in both ministries. I am thrilled that I get to be a part of what Flatiron’s is doing in the community and at the West

Campus. This church has been extremely close to my heart for 5 years, and this internship program is a very exciting opportunity for me to learn what makes it work. Recently, I have felt called to a career in ministry with students, and I look forward to seeing what that would look like and how to make it happen. Being an intern at Flatirons is my next step to establish my career path.

With that being said, I am prayerfully requesting a partnership in my journey. It would be greatly appreciated if you could join me by supporting me financially or spiritually. If you would like to support me spiritually, please pray for wisdom and strength for the other interns and I, as well as the staff, students and children I will be working with. The total cost of this internship is $18,000 to where $4,000 goes to program fees and the remaining $14,000 will come back to me in the form of a monthly stipend. If you wish to to support me financially, I am asking for donations in the amounts of $800, $500, or $250 (However, a gift of any amount is greatly appreciated). Recurring donations are also an option. An example of a recurring donation: $25 a month for the duration of the internship (11 months) works out to be a total of $275. I am aiming to have my funds raised by the end of July.

I am so excited to start this program in September and even more excited to have someone who means so much to me partner with me on this journey. Consider it a tax-deductible investment in my future career! I have started a blog at melissacheatham.blogspot.com to document my journey and to help keep my friends and family updated on their investment! I anticipate God doing amazing things in my life as well and the people I will be serving with! I cannot wait to share this journey with you!

Donations towards my internship are tax-deductible, and can be made via check, credit/debit card, or electronic check:

To donate to my internship via check, make the check out to “Flatirons Community Church”, and make sure to put “Internship: Melissa Cheatham” in the memo line.
Please mail checks to:
Flatirons Community Church
Attn: Internship Program
355 W. South Boulder Rd
Lafayette, CO 80026

To donate to my internship via credit/debit card or your electronic check, please go to www.flatironschurch.com/internships and click on the link provided, on the giving form, you will be able to type my name into the “Intern’s Name” field. To give a one time donation to my internship, click the orange “Give Now” button after you have filled out the form. To create a recurring donation, click the orange “Scheduled Giving” button after you have filled out the form (with the amount you would like to give on a recurring basis). If you set up a recurring gift, it is best to set it up for the term of my internship (11 months). Please note that the amount the internship program will receive from credit card/debit card transactions will be approximately 3% lower than the gift amount specified due to the Church’s online processing fees. This is not the case when using the e-check option.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my letter, and please prayerfully consider joining me

on this journey in education and faith. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions, comments or concerns!

With Love,





Melissa Anne Cheatham
(720)341-4581
mcheatham2010@gmail.com

Ready, Set, GO!

Well it's official! The first of my support letters have been sent out! And now I am about 5 months away from moving into the intern house at Flatirons to start the program. Even though I am not starting the internship until September, my journey has already begun. I am so excited to be able to include all of my friends and family in my journey!

I will be raising $18,000 by the start of the internship and I have a few different methods to do so. I am sending out letters via snail mail AND email first of all. The letters have a link to this blog, which I will use to keep everyone updated about my funds and different opportunities they have to support me in this process, as well as the program itself after it begins.

Right now I am in the process of planning a Tupperware party in the next few months, as well as a summer BBQ/pool party. My mom has been kind enough to donate food (like she did before my Afghanistan trip). Everyone is welcome, and the cost will be $10 a plate, BYOB!  This was my most successful and fun FUNdraiser I did for my mission trip and I am really excited to get everyone together to do it again. Dates are still TBA but I will invite everyone as soon as I get that figured out!

Melissa....not a blogger?

This is my first post in what will be a series of them in the next year and a half. I am very excited to announce I have been accepted into the internship program at Flatirons Community Church and I will be serving as an intern at our West Campus, splitting the time between Children and Student Ministries. For almost a year I have felt called toward a career in ministry, and I never knew what to do about that calling or even what that could look like, until I saw the internship program at Flatirons. I love Flatirons, children, and Jesus and am very excited to be working in an environment that combines all three starting in September!!!

In this program we will be doing a few projects as well as personal and professional development, and learning what church management looks like. This will be where I find out if God is truly calling me to work in ministry. At the end of August I will be moving into the Intern house in Lafayette to begin an 11 month journey in ministry and will be using this blog to communicate with all of my friends, family and supporters how my year is going!

While the internship itself starts in September, my journey through this process has actually already begun. I am currently taking a break from writing the first draft of my support letter where I hope to have a group of my closest friends and family investing in my future and financially supporting this journey. Overall, this program costs $15,000 where $4,000 will be for program fees and $11,000 will go toward a monthly stipend for myself. I will be using this blog over the summer to let my investors know how my journey has started!

With that being said, I am signing off. I am definitely not a professional blogger so bear with me while I figure this whole thing out. I don't think I've ever even "blogged" since high school on Livejournal (if you can even count my "woe is me, life sucks" as blogging).