ALY ALLEN | THE BLOG

i had the opportunity to sing at my old church last week, for the thursday morning women's bible study i used to attend. i chose "Born in Me" by Francesca Battistelli, and once you hear it, you'll know why. it's from The Story album, which is a collaboration of many artists, the songs written from the perspective of various Biblical characters. from start to finish, the album tells "the story" of God's love for us in sending His Son to save us. "Born in Me" is Mary's song. my absolute favorite lines [possibly of any song ever] are the following: i am not brave. i'll never be. the only thing my heart can offer is a vacancy. i'm just a girl. nothing more. but i am willing, i am yours. can't you just imagine that's exactly how Mary felt? i get it. i feel this way daily. and even though it's not scripture, i take comfort in thinking these were her thoughts. really, it doesn't matter what we think of ours...

Christmas is fast approaching. All my decorations are in place and Christmas music is playing around-the-clock. I close down the house each night, turning off lights and starting the dishwasher. It’s my favorite time of day, when I have a few moments with my own thoughts. I sit in the living room, lost in the tree lights. My eyes drift to the nativity my mom bought me for my first married Christmas eight years ago. I think about Mary, and about how she must have felt when the angel told her she would bear the the Savior of all mankind. Scared, unsure, feeling ill-equipped, she was called to a path that no one else in all of history would ever travel; the very thing that God had ordained for her before the foundations of the earth. I think about us, here in two thousand twelve. How God has uniquely purposed our lives, too. But I wonder if we expect His plan to be neatly packaged? When we say yes to God, do we assume He’ll go before us and unravel all the knots and iron out the ...