Melinda is a seven-time author of books which have been published in a variety of languages. She is the former editor of an internationally published Christian magazine which had a distribution of 80,000 -plus eager subscribers! She is happily married for 45 years to Bill Fish who has been pastor of a fellowship for 39 years in the Pittsburgh, PA area. Melinda and Bill have two children who are adults and who are also happily married to awesome spouses. Their four grandchildren are adorable. None of these facts are relevant and do not define Melinda. 

Melinda loves people-well, some people,- and she loves to start conversations with strangers in the hopes of finding out useless information about them just to get them to talk! She also recharges her batteries alone or with very close friends with whom she shares common interests and perspectives. On many Monday nights she can be found at the local Panera "campus" with a circle of friends who have met for over ten years and who talk abou trusting God and abiding in Christ and "regular" snippets from each others' lives. These folks don't always agree, but who cares? It is just a pleasure to be with people who don't have an "agenda."

Melinda cooks, sews, cleans house, walks her dogs, Barkley and Daisy, and wonders often about what God must be up to today! 

Although she tries not to define herself by what she does or has done, it is difficult, because that's how most people define themselves. Why do we do that? Because people expect to hear something from our mouths that distinguishes us from other folks.  Am I really worth knowing, and to what end? And what does it mean to really know someone? Is it knowing their opinions about issues? Or their heart hurts or their hopes? Is it knowing them well enough to anticipate how they will react in various contexts? Do I really want to know someone for their sakes or am I wanting to know them because doing so may benefit me?

 Am I reticent to allow myself to be known because I really believe that if I am known to them, I am now vulnerable to them? What if they don't accept me, and I find myself alone and rejected?  Can I trust God enough to let myself be known to others without fear of what they may do to me? 

In order to be transparent, I need to live without the fear of being known. I can let myself be seen, including my mistakes and weaknesses. To live without this fear threatens anyone who fears being known, because it challenges them to a higher level of trust in God who ultimately gives us our true friends. Do people really know you or do they only know your mask, your wall of protection against your fear of being known. The more transparent I become, the more I can trust God to save my reputation. Becoming transparent allows another to be free, unencumbered as Adam and Eve were before they fell and became ashamed of being known.

When Paul writes, "Then I shall know fully, even as I also have been fully known," he reveals a secret: the more I am able to be transparent, the more I will know Him. It's going to happen when you see Him. In that moment, you will be like Him for you will see Him as He is. Why should I fool around with fig leaves? It only isolates me from people and from God who longs for a transparent relationship with me. He is calling me to a higher level of freedom and the key is transparency, a symptom of real trust.