melanie kowalik
Isaiah 46:3-4 “Listen to me…you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
Email Melanie
Name: Melanie Claire Kowalik, but almost everyone calls me Mo.
Born: March 18th in San Antonio, Texas
Siblings
Catherine and Mary-Beth are my older sisters and Ryan Harper and Don Archer are my brothers-in-law.
Mo's hobbies are reading literature, writing prose, painting on canvas and water-coloring, collecting perfume, researching things I find amusing, hiking, anything on the river or greenbelt.
Her heroes are her parents. "My parents are undoubtedly the most heroic influences in my life. My mother lives her life bowed low at the feet of Jesus and loves Him with a passion that is profound. She taught me to dream, pray, and believe, introduced me to great literature and to seek truth and beauty from the Lord. She has been the greatest encourager in my walk and has the deepest understanding of the Holiness and Sovereignty of God. Likewise, my father is the wisest person I know. I admire him for his strong work ethic, his ability to seek God and truth in nature, his humble yet high intellect, and the quiet but intense way that he loves and serves the Lord."
On Starbucks: I’m more a denizen of Mozart’s than any other coffee-house, but my favorite coffee is a spicy blend from Anderson’s on 38 th Street.
Her favorite movies are Eat Drink Man Woman, Garden State, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, Joe vs. the Volcano, Stand By Me, Monsoon Wedding, The Trip to Bountiful, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Cool-Hand Luke, Dancing at Lugnasa.
Her favorite books are Will in the World, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Mapping the Next Millennium, The Great Gatsby, Animal Dreams, The Pursuit of Love, In the Time of the Butterflies, I Capture the Castle, Perfume, Like Water for Chocolate, For Colored Girls… One Hundred Secret Senses, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Memoirs of a Geisha, and Apricots at Midnight.
Artists: Always: Paul Simon, Fleetwood Mac, Emmylou Harris, Beatles, U2, ABBA, Rachmaninov, Train. Currently: Shins, Postal Service, Red House Painters, Lizzie West, Neko Case, Pete Yorn
Life Story
"My sisters and I were blessed enough to grow up in a home where our parents loved the Lord in such a way that it poured over onto their daughters. I knew Jesus to be my Lord and Savior at a very young age and tried to live my life according to Scripture, but it wasn’t until college, however, that I fell in love with Him. As a writer, my goal has been to draw and reveal the truths in life through stories. It’s the highest form of magnificence to realize Christ as the Way and the Truth and the Life and that by being Truth embodied, He is ultimately my goal as a writer, and was long before I knew Him to be. That said, my definition of self was erased when my identity became in Him, and from that moment, He has been the root of my everything. And I have continued seeking Him daily through prayer, learning the process of excavating truth from Scripture, and knowing that this journey is life-long, stretching into eternity. And for me, this is the ultimate freedom, hope, and wonderment."
Vision for The Austin Stone
My prayer for us is that we would live life at the feet of Jesus and emulate His unchanging love for others by being an incredibly loving church, a place that is Spirit-led where everyone who enters knows they are a part of the Body of Christ. I pray that we are on our knees in prayer for this city, this country, this world. My vision for us is that we embrace and encourage, love and support, and ultimately seek Him above all else.
Anything else people should know about you?
I try my best to stay south of the river because I like the lifestyle better on this side. I’m a huge fan of sugar-free black licorice teddy bears and that grosses everyone out for some reason…oddly enough, that’s why I like them. Also, I love living in my neighborhood because strange occurrences happen frequently…this is great fodder for writing!