ALY ALLEN | THE BLOG

goodness this blog has been neglected... i'm here because i wanted to tell you about the holiday/christmas cards that appeared in the shop today! there are 8 different designs to choose from and THIS WEEK ONLY they're on sale at 50% off , as sort of a grand-opening-early-bird special. the fun part is, even if you don't have your family photos done yet, you can still order a card today as sort of a pre-order, but wait until you have your photos ready to customize and finalize everything. if you order one card and decide after getting photos taken that a different card will look better, we can easily "exchange" designs! (i won't issue refunds, though, just a switch to another one of my designs). here's how it works: 1) go here and buy the one you like 2) send me an email or etsy convo with your photo and last name you want on the card (first names if applicable)... if you don't have your photo yet, no problem, just let me know! 3) i'll m...

sin had come into God's perfect world. and it would never leave. God's children would always be running away from him and hiding in the dark. their hearts would break now, and never work properly again. God couldn't let his children live forever, not in such pain, not without him. there was only one way to protect them. "you will have to leave the garden now," God told his children, his eyes filling with tears. "this is no longer your true home, it's not he place for you anymore."   but before they left the garden, God made clothes for his children, to cover them. he gently clothed them and then he sent them away on a long, long journey -- out of the garden, out of their home.    well, in another story, it would all be over and that would have been the end... ... but not in this Story.  God loved his children too much to let the story end there. even though he would suffer, God had a plan -- a magnificent dream. one day, he woul...

i opened up one of those "group discount" email promotions today, and this was the first line: Nothing embodies the holiday season like Santa —and nothing gets kids more excited than a personalized letter from Mr. Claus himself. i wasn't ready for my reaction, but my heart literally sank . maybe it's because i'm listening to "Mary did you know" on repeat in preparation for singing it next week at our Bible study? i don't know why it hit me so hard, but the notion that "Nothing embodies the holiday season like Santa"  sickened me. i'm not going to tell you that incorporating santa into your Christmas tradition is bad or evil or terribly misleading for your kids. i've heard all the arguments and i know everyone has their own convictions on the issue, some stronger than others. i've always been sort of indifferent. we don't make a great big deal out of him, but we also don't act like he's an instrument of satan, ...

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...

so, Christmas is coming up faster than i'd like to admit. and i don't know about you, but i have a huge family, which means lots of gifts to buy. i love giving gifts, but some years are harder than others, you know? luckily,  i like making things. and i like to think that people like receiving things from me that i've made. i could be wrong, but i'm just going with it. every Christmas i'll make a gift for at least one person on my list. a tight budget + a huge family + creative juices = handmade gifts. this year, i invited some of my friends to share their best "DIY holiday" gift ideas with you, for a little series that i'm calling: i want you to meet Lindsy ! she blogs over at Space for Joy and i love her writing so much. she has a beautiful heart, but she's also a crafty girl, so asked her to show you her idea for a DIY holiday today [oh, and i'm writing over at her place today, too. just fyi] First of all, thanks to Aly for inv...

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 ...

so, Christmas is coming up faster than i'd like to admit. and i don't know about you, but i have a huge family, which means lots of gifts to buy. i love giving gifts, but some years are harder than others, you know? luckily,  i like making things. and i like to think that people like receiving things from me that i've made. i could be wrong, but i'm just going with it. every Christmas i'll make a gift for at least one person on my list. a tight budget + a huge family + creative juices = handmade gifts. this year, i invited some of my friends to share their best "DIY holiday" gift ideas with you, for a little series that i'm calling: you'll need modpodge, scissors, a paintbrush, a wrapped canvas, and one larger piece of fabric, and a bunch of fabric strips. mine were 2.5" wide, but the width will vary depending on your canvas size.  fold one end of the strip longways, and cut at a diagonal to form the arrow effect cover m...

the Christmas season has finally arrived at our house! the tree is up, gifts are being wrapped, and the  advent calendar  is printed and hung! the only thing i have left to do? to give YOU a little gift, of course!  FIRST: here are a few 5x7 [and 7x5] christmas printables for you. yay! download and print without watermark here download and print without watermark here download and print without watermark here SECOND: every order from the shop today through December 15th [the last day to buy for Christmas delivery] will receive this little extra (5x7) tucked in their order! so while you're buying gifts for family and friends, you get a little something free for yourself :) [of course, you could give this one away and keep another for yourself. i won't tell] you don't have to enter any code, it just appears. little elves or something, i guess inspired by yesterday's post ... and yes, i did a quick redesign in case you were wonder...

** 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...

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...

okay, before you watch this, i have to tell you: the heavy breathing and not being able to catch my breath? yes, that's normal. i can barely breathe right now, and the photo below will explain it all [31 weeks, today]. doesn't matter if i'm just sitting and talking, walking up stairs, trying to get my daughter into her crib... it's all hard right now. so just ignore the shortness-of-breath. maybe you won't even notice it, but i sure did :) also? i hate watching/listening to myself. but this is what i sound like and look like [though i didn't finish my makeup today] so there's no getting around it... here goes! the " danielle " that i mentioned is, of course, from " take heart ". here's the  specific post i'm referring  to that you have to read about what not to say to a pregnant person . and here's where she's hosting a giveaway for a $35 shop credit to blossom & vine [that's my shop in case you didn...

i opened up one of those "group discount" email promotions today, and this was the first line: Nothing embodies the holiday season like Santa —and nothing gets kids more excited than a personalized letter from Mr. Claus himself. i wasn't ready for my reaction, but my heart literally sank . maybe it's because i'm listening to "Mary did you know" on repeat in preparation for singing it next week at our Bible study? i don't know why it hit me so hard, but the notion that "Nothing embodies the holiday season like Santa"  sickened me. [source] i'm not going to tell you that incorporating santa into your Christmas tradition is bad or evil or terribly misleading for your kids. i've heard all the arguments and i know everyone has their own convictions on the issue, some stronger than others. i've always been sort of indifferent. we don't make a great big deal out of him, but we also don't act like he's an instrument...