Most that know and have met Melodie Kiriakos, formerly known as Melodie Zepeda, have been swept away and enchanted by her gifting and talent as a singer. Melodie is a powerhouse vocalist at New Hope Oahu in Hawaii, and she had the privilege of recording 7 albums that are reaching the top of the billboard charts, one album in particular, Scripture Songs, being ranked #3 in all Christian praise and worship music.
She embodies the sweetness of her name yet she is more than just an echo of a beautiful sound to the ear and liberation to the heart. Many people at times when seeing a successful person, in their element, on stage, only see the polished product or the perfected performance yet they didn’t see the blood, sweat, tears, and grit. This is her story:
“Something that resonates with me is the idea that the journey is more of a process. Life is more about the journey and less about the destination. I had many expectations about my life “timing wise” like down to when I would record my first album, even what I would do after college, when I would get married, all those things that we all tend to map out didn’t happen.”
She began to laugh as she continued.
“It was not at all what I expected! I mean, it was when I found that I needed to surrender. I need to surrender the goals and dreams that I had and really being okay with, and I know this may sound a little insignificant, but it is so important, but being okay with “being yourself”, loving yourself, and allowing God to love you. I didn’t feel like I had to try as hard. You know what I mean. It was more effortless. Then my perspective began to shift to be more about the journey and less about what was going to happen and where it was going to happen. I remember when I moved to Hawaii 8 years ago, it was a moment where I just felt done. I didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing”.
As she spoke, she went on to describe about the final experiences that led up to her decision to move to Hawaii. At the end of her undergraduate career at California Baptist University as a music major, she felt ready, equipped, and empowered to be ground-breaking and earth-shaking in her music career. She jumped into various opportunities and did not soar as high as she foresaw, left jaded and unsure. She began to look at her plans, her timeline, and felt that God was late in various aspects of her life in regards to her singing career, her desire to travel and getting married.
She was bold enough to ask herself, “What does Melodie want?” and “Who do I want to be?”
“I have always wanted to go to Hawaii, and I always pictured it being a place that I would visit after getting married, but when I searched deep down, I didn’t want to wait until I was married to travel and experience Hawaii. I prayed about this desire to move, and I felt God’s assurance that it was okay to take that time. Sometimes it is not a calling in the sense that the clouds will part, and you will hear God’s voice tell you directly that this is the path to take. Quite honestly, I just wanted to go to Hawaii, and I knew God was going to be with me and that assurance alone was enough. I remember the day my mom and aunt left after helping me get settled, and I was finally alone in the Hawaiian waters. I was so happy, and I was so at peace even though I didn’t have it all figured out, and I didn’t have everything that I was so used to having. I was okay, and I felt really close to God in that moment of being alone and having so very little because I knew that He was all I had and yet I knew I was right where I needed to be.”
Melodie continued on explaining that the more she surrendered, the more free, confident, and whole she felt. She went on.
“I want to teach my children about how much God delights in us and that He has placed delights in us and that is a part of who we are and a big part of being ourselves and doing what we love!
The gift of choosing where I wanted to go (Hawaii) was the beginning of who I was.
We don’t allow ourselves to find ourselves at times because it is scary or we are afraid of it, we may not like it, or we may not know where to start. If God created us, and He spent time “creating” us, giving us desires, delights, dislikes, we should find out what those are. We should see what we like, what we don’t like, find our style and way of loving and serving others, and how we want to lead our families. A mentor of mine said the most powerful phrase to me that has changed my life, and as silly and simple as it may sound, something clicked and shifted within me. I would tell my mentor a lot of fears that would draw me away from taking risks and a lot of it she noticed was based on what family members or friends have gone through, and she shifted my mentality with two simple phrases:
Your story is not the same as theirs. We write our own stories.
Something clicked in me, and I have heard that phrase before but it finally sank in that I have the power to write my own story with God as my most trusty co-partner and guide. After that, life began to shift, and I was more confident and sure of myself in taking risks, exploring, and finding myself and God in the journey.
I ask you that same question: Who do you want to be? What do you want? Who are you beyond your talents, giftings, and doings?
It wasn’t until Melodie came to a place to live out this process that Erin Loechner, author of Chasing Slow, so eloquently says:
“The opposite of control is not chaos; it’s surrender”.
Ingredients to “Surrender” this week:
1) Take a break from the grit and grind.
2) Slow down this week.
3) Love yourself.
4) Get current.
5) Surrender.
6) Repeat.
Melodie and her husband, Jonathan Kiriakos along with her parents, David and Sherrie Zepeda, are the owners of Ohana Studios, in Honolulu, Hawaii, with the mission that is committed in creating a safe, nurturing environment for the arts.
You can support and follow Melodie through Instragram @mellymel11.
Melodie and her husband, Johnathan, plan to serve various churches in Japan by teaching workshops on worship, leadership, and leading worship in Japanese, so please visit their GoFundMe campaign to support their mission, and you can also follow their journey @MelJohn_Global.