ALY ALLEN | THE BLOG

have you ever done an inductive Bible study? i'm assuming that's what this is, when you take a book of the Bible and simply read it, to study it for yourself. not consulting commentaries or other authors. so i'm going through Philippians that way right now, along with hundreds of other women doing the " maximize your mornings " challenge that i told you about. what i love about it is that God is able to teach me Himself, through His spirit. don't get me wrong, i looove me some Beth Moore [that's obvious if you've read my blog for very long], and have learned so much from Bible teachers. but to learn exactly what God would have me learn that day, straight from His Word and through His spirit? that's priceless if you ask me. take Philippians 1:12-18 Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else t...

i've been reading Philippians 1:1-11 all week. each day, looking for new things. i've actually never done this before. i usually focus on quantity : how much can i read each day . now i'm focussing on quality : how much Truth and insight can i glean from just a few verses . next week i'll read verses 12-18 all week. i'm following this guideline [as part of that "maximize your mornings challenge" that i'm doing, remember? best thing ever.] anyway, since i've read it a million times this week, and have had the time to just meditate on every last beautiful word, i just had to share this with you. feel free to print: [click on it to make it bigger, and then save and print] also, it occurred to me to make a few different colors. so here ya go :) maybe green? or blue or aqua? i sure hope one of these works for you!

you might get tired of me talking about Beth Moore... i hope you don't, though. most of the Bible studies that i've done in life have been written by Beth Moore, so i've learned a LOT from her. i was in the middle of a study called "Living Beyond Yourself" when i was really pregnant with my daughter. once she was born, i stopped going and never did finish the study [i had great plans to finish on my own and watch the video sessions online, but i think you all know what happens when the newborn arrives]. anyway, i plan to finish it now that i'm done with "Breaking Free". it's sort of a sequel, in my opinion. in the very first video session [way back when i watched it] i remember being so convicted of the fact that your "quiet time", or "devotions", or whatever you call your time in God's presence, needs to be in the morning . listen, i know this is hard. i know it's not easy for moms. especially moms of little ba...

hi friends! have you all heard of the "Inspired to Action" blog? i ran across it a few months ago and i love it. Kat is challenging and full of practical solutions for moms... the biggest thing she advocates is to "maximize your mornings" which is a challenge to wake up before your kids, have your devotional/quiet time, workout time, and plan-the-day time. before they even wake up. i definitely want to do this everyday. i typically do some sort of Bible reading daily, whether it's flipping through my 3x5 cards or reading through a day in my chronological Bible while my daughter eats breakfast, or maybe i wait until naptime to do the whole routine... and most days i have some time that's quiet to just pray [in the shower, during naptime, in the car]. but for about a year, i have wanted to be intentional about doing it in the morning  before everyone wakes up, before i have to put my mom hat on. Kat has set up a "maximize your mornings" chall...