ALY ALLEN | THE BLOG

i'm sure i've already attracted some interest by that title. here's some background: my daughter is 19 months old. she has slept in her crib, through the night, since 12 weeks. yes, i followed babywise. it worked for us, and no i am not insensitive and iron-fisted and yes, my daughter is loved and well adjusted and comforted and all of those wonderful things. i'm not against the co-sleeping, but for us it just wouldn't have worked. not with an infant. [i think that's ok.] that said... last night my daughter woke up around 2am and was crying. this is a very rare thing, and she didn't stop which is even more rare. of course, i went in and got her and brought her back to our bed. [i'm not against her sleeping in our bed at all. it's good to stay away from extremes] i have to say, it was the sweetest thing ever. her sleeping between us. she took awhile to fall back to sleep, and i'm surprised she did fall asleep. the few times we've had her in be...

it has been raining for five days straight down here in sunny San Diego i LOVE the rain. i love the sound i love the smell i love the symbolism as i sit here at my laptop gazing out the window at the steady downpour that has not relented for even a few minutes in the past five days i'm reminded of my soul and how it hasn't stopped raining for a few months but it's not the rain you'd think of when you think of trials you'd think that i was saying it hasn't stopped hurting that bad things keep happening you know, " when it rains it pours"? but for me, right now, right in the midst of the storm it's that sweet healing rain that won't stop Jesus is continually, day after day unrelentingly pouring out Himself washing my spirit and my soul in His goodness and His grace He's flooding my heart with life and with peace. and just as I write this, the sun is peeking out I feel as if God is literally saying, right now, to me: "I'm still here...

it was the night before christmas and all through the world everything looked like business as usual shepherds sat on a hillside looking up at the stars while the world fell asleep unaware just how deep was the darkness the night before christmas and the night before christmas seemed to be just a night but the wind blew like something was coming and like children with secrets that they're bursting to tell the cedars danced in the breeze while all of nature, it seemed held its breath on the night before christmas and Hope Hope long awaited the Hope of the ages would break with the dawn and the song that all of creation was anticipating would start with a baby's first cry and on the night before Christmas Mary lay down her head and Joseph, he paced the floor praying in an everyday stable in an everyday town in the hours to come God would wrap Himself up and come down from heaven and the world would forever be changed after the night before christmas "the night before christ...

if you haven't read my post, where i was going to start praying for rain , please go here and read it! and then read this: my God, above all else, is FAITHFUL i did start praying for rain.... and i also started praying for someone specific in my life to come to know Jesus in daily fellowship, and not just as a one-time-long-ago Savior of their sins. i started praying for this person fervently. desperately. more sincerely than i've ever prayed for anything. and i got to the point where i told God that i would accept any means by which this transformation would come about . i would do anything or endure anything that God would require of me. and a few months ago, both my prayer for rain and my prayer for this specific person's restoration... were answered. all at once. And in that moment i met a new God. i met a God who is faithful. a God I never would have known were it not for this moment. in the very moment that the...

maybe i'm just behind, but oh my goodness have you seen etsy's new feature called "activity"? it may just be cool for sellers, so bear with me if you're not a seller... so, you go to "your etsy" and at the very top of the left sidebar, you see this "activity" button. click that, and it gives you basically an rss feed of what's been happening. sorry this photo is seriously sooo small and horrible quality! who has hearted you, who has hearted an item of yours, what you've hearted, etc. i love it because i can see other sellers who've hearted me, and then go look at their stuff [and seriously, who doesn't love a good etsy stalking session... just getting lost and you can't remember where you started or why? gotta love that] P.S. i just noticed there's now an "activity feed" link, right next to "your etsy". i love all these new changes, don't you? :)