ALY ALLEN | THE BLOG

last instafriday of the year! i wish i had more from christmas, but i'm so bad about taking pictures!  let's just say it's because i'm enjoying the moment too much to grab my phone and snap a photo :) from our christmas eve candlelight service. i love this part. and then we sing "this little light of mine" :) daddy reading the christmas story out of the "jesus storybook bible" on christmas morning. we had her attention the whole time which was so nice! and this was waiting for her downstairs... she wanted nothing to do with all the other gifts for the rest of the morning. we literally had to force her to open them! i'm going to miss this view, which is probably coming down tomorrow :( one of her gifts was a build-a-bear gift card.  [such a good idea, by the way!] she was adamant about one thing: a purple bear...  even if there were peace signs all over it. my mother-in-law added some new mugs...

being a parent is a heavy responsibility.  and that's the biggest understatement of the century, right?  it requires all of you: your heart, your mind, your physical body.  it evokes every emotion: heartache, frustration, intense love, desperation, sheer joy.  it takes planning, creativity, wisdom, supernatural strength, and mostly a lot of prayer.  sometimes i feel like i can't give my daughter everything she needs. and i can't. but the beautiful thing is that i was never meant to. that's not how any of us were designed. Jesus is the only one who can give us everything we need. over and over again. if He's the answer for me, then He's the answer for my daughter even though it may look differently at her age. as she's getting older, i'm realizing that i can't protect her from every little thing like i could when she was a baby. she's interacting with other kids, other adults, she's away from me frequently. i can...

scanning through my twitter feed the other day, i saw this: i loved it. don't you? i needed that bit of wisdom that day. you can read serena woods' blog here so i created a little printable for myself [by all means, print it out for yourself too!] and added philippians 1:6 to her quote. to remind myself that God is not going to abandon me no matter how much i think i've failed or how much i feel like He must have given up on me by now. i usually need to remind myself that my feelings  are not Truth. His Word is truth. period. now of course, sometimes God does rescue us right out of our circumstances, but we certainly shouldn't expect that every time. romans 8:28 helps me to remember that no matter what,  " in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

** reposted from last christmas when none of you were actually reading :) i imagine the shepherds sitting there. they had just finished their head-count of the sheep tired and cold, they sat on a nearby cluster of rocks and hoped maybe tonight would bring an adventure of some kind something to break up the monotony of the night i wonder if the air whispered strangely i wonder if the sky looked different or if the leaves were rattling in the wind like they do just before a storm i wonder if they had a feeling that for some reason  this  night was significant. somehow. on the timeline of history i wonder what they were talking about that evening i can't help but wonder if they were devout Jewish boys did they, deep down, believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did they know about the promised Messiah that Isaiah prophesied? after 400 years of silence, did they  truly  believe in the God of their forefathers? i c...

... Christ Jesus, being in very nature God,  did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,  but made himself nothing,  taking the very nature of a servant,  being made in human likeness.   And being found in appearance as a man,  he humbled himself  and became obedient to death —  even death on a cross!  Therefore God exalted him to the highest place  and gave him the name that is above every name,  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,   in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,  to the glory of God the Father. phillipians 2:6-11 you know, Christmas is really insignificant without the cross. there's no good news unless Christ endures the cross and takes all sin and all God's wrath on Himself. the reason for this season is Easter. and the best news of all? He's coming again....

i love sara groves . i love her lyrics, her soothing voice,  her beautiful heart that oozes out of her music... her christmas CD is one of my favorites.  this song features her son, reading from the Jesus Storybook Bible .  [if you don't own one , you must. even if you don't have kids, or if they're grown. seriously.] In your heart you know it's true though you hold no expectation in the deepest part of you there's an open hesitation but it's true kingdoms and crowns a God who came down to find you it's true Angels on high sing through the night alleluia heard it told you think it's odd the whole thing fraught with complication the play begins with  baby God and all His blessed implications but it's true kingdoms and crowns a God who came down to find you it's true Angels on high sing through the night alleluia alleluia, alleluia Oh it's true kingdom...

** make sure you head over to this post. i'm hosting my first ever giveaway and you can win $50 to my shop **  i don't know why friday sneaks up on me every week? i'm always so late posting my photos!  but i love doing it because it sort of recaps our week. we made this little gingerbread christmas tree. the icing was way to runny. it turned out so ugly!! oh well, i looked like the best mom ever and she had fun! the tangerines are finally ripe enough to eat. i can't get enough. yum! we had a little picnic at the park. it had rained two days straight so it was good to get out but then...  we had to leave the park without getting to swing on the swings [her favorite] because they were occupied by other kids the whole time. she literally mumbled under her breath: "this really isn't my day"... are you kidding me? i laughed out loud. and then taught her to focus on all the fun things we did get to do instead of the...

i wanted to share this song with you. a lot of us can probably relate to it in some way or another. just because it's christmas doesn't mean our hurt and pain and struggles just go away. sometimes it's hard to enjoy holidays and for some of us there's no one around to spend it with. maybe there are plenty surrounding you but you still feel alone? for some, christmastime actually  magnifies  what we're going through. whatever your circumstance, this Hope that was born at Christmas is still alive today. because He came. Emmanuel. God with us. He has not left us. He's still here in the midst of everything. good or bad. great or small. this is one of my favorite singers, Anthony Evans . the song is called "Immanuel": no decorations, no tree with tinsel no lights this year at home the rooms are silent, no carols playing for the first time she's all alone but what a wonder she says there's comfort Emmanuel, our God is with us y...

*this giveaway is now closed. thank you SO MUCH to all who donated!  we built that well !* by all means,  please continue to donate ! the extra money will just go to another well :) as you can see, this little blog got to 100 followers recently. i sorta missed the boat on the "celebrate-100-followers-giveaway" thing. if that's even a "thing". lots of people do a giveaway when they hit a certain amount of followers, right? i did have a fleeting idea that i would have wanted to do a giveaway in celebration of 100 followers, but obviously i never got around to it. have you heard about this? Project 320 . for the past few years, these gals have rallied together to host a bunch of giveaways on a bunch of different blogs, to build a well for people who have no access to clean water.  no access to clean water, you guys. they use their blogs to get the word out and raise money through charity:water  to build a well. last year, they built three! watch this: ...

we had our last football game last week. lost in the semi-finals :(  but this little one still had a blast, and no idea that we lost. that made daddy happy. saturday i made two wreaths. one for the door and one for the entry wall.  i love when i start and finish projects in a just a few hours.  it makes me feel so accomplished. wrapped a few gifts... made a few hoops [2 of those are on their way right now to a lucky friend who doesn't even know it. surprise!] you can buy your own here how cute is this packaging? i love doilies and yarn. she is obsessed with trains. i think i've mentioned that a few times on here best cookies ever. recipe from here  [although i switched out the cranberries for walnuts. i don't love fruit in my cookies] and, last but not least, finishing up some hoops for danielle .  they'll be shipping out today  [finally! she's been sooo patient with me] check ou...

1. this one just oozes freedom. you may have already read it, but it wouldn't hurt to just read through it again. from Sarah Markley: " On drastic measures and What ifs ." 2. i found a new blog that i love! maybe you already read it: the gypsy mama ?  anyway, this post [it's part 1 of 4] was really great, all about social media and using it to bless others. "social media laws: #1. it's about relationship not solicitation" and while you're there, read this:  "The hard work of liking our kids, not just loving them".   doesn't the title just grab you right away?  i took some time to scroll through her blog and this one really spoke straight to me.  i think you'll love it too. 3. do you love sara groves ' music like i do? then you have to read this interview  by Kat, from Inspired to Action . i just love seeing how "normal" famous people are, you know? [i included my favorite sara groves son...