ALY ALLEN | THE BLOG

waiting. one of the hardest disciplines, isn't it? for me, anyway. i'm not the most patient person in the world... just ask my 2 year old. waiting comes in all forms. sometimes they're serious and life-changing things that we wait and hope and pray for, and sometimes they're just daily little things that pop up in our path. we pray and pray for God to work in our circumstances. to change them, make them go away, make them better.  but what if God had a different lesson for us to learn in the waiting? some of you are waiting for a baby. either because you're dealing with the heartache of infertility or you're navigating the difficult waters of adoption.  some of you are waiting for a wayward child to return. either to your home or to your heart. a broken relationship needs mending and you're waiting. some are waiting for your husband to rise up and fill his role as spiritual leader in your house. you're waiting for his repentance or h...

i read the february 28 entry from Jesus Calling today. sure i'm a few days behind, but i needed to read it today, not on the 28th. i love how God uses even my falling behind to help lift me up again: do you see what that says up there? gosh, if i'm ever guilty of attributing my own thoughts onto Him.  in the psychology world, they call it projecting, right? "Many believers perceive Me as an unpleasable Judge, angrily searching out their faults and failures.   after all, i do this to myself, so why shouldn't He?  Nothing could be further from the truth! I died for your sins so that I might clothe you in My garments of salvation.  yes, yes, i have that verse hanging in my house. a design in my shop . i know it well.  This is how I see you: radiant in My robe of righteousness.  yes, He sees us with Christ's righteousness covering all our sins. He literally sees us as already perfected and sinless, as we WILL be in eternity. amazing. ...

i was contacted a few months ago by a wonderful young woman named sarah, who had seen my etsy shop and wondered if i'd like to advertise [for free] on her soon-to-be-launched blog ? um, free ad space? of course i said yes.  well, her blog launched yesterday [that's a little screen shot up there. it's pretty, huh?] it's called "speaking of truth" and i had no idea i would love it so much. this girl has a way with words, for sure. you've got to head over and start reading, and subscribe, and go back and read everyday :) just to entice you, here's an excerpt i loved: Within chaos (tension…uncertainty…fear…failure), the weary and mixed up heart of a woman needs to know that she’s held and that she’s okay. She craves the assurance of a compass, something to be trusted, because if she knew she was heading in the right direction—and if she was secure in her destination—she would push through anything. The more that sinks in, the more it hits h...

maybe someone needed to read this today?  i know i needed it. i have a bunch of "mixed CDs" just laying around in the car. i stuck in this particular CD and this was the first song that played. and it was exactly what i needed to be reminded of. please take the three minutes and listen to it i included the lyrics below (emphasis mine, of course). i mean, they're just Truth, with some pretty music added to it. and hopefully they'll give you strength for whatever your circumstances might be if you don't know who Ginny Owens is, she's a singer/songwriter. and she's blind.  i won't write out her full bio, but i think that fact alone gives her some solid "street-credit" when writing about trials, doesn't it? the pathway is broken and the signs are unclear and i don't know the reason  why You brought me here but just because You love me the way that You do i'm gonna walk through the valley if You...

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."

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...

if you're new around here, you might not know that i used to write a lot more. there weren't as many craft/decor posts, there were a lot less photos. i mostly just used to write. i happened to be scrolling through some old posts and found this one. i wanted to post it again today in case any of my new friends never got to read it: every time i buy something from the thrift store [which is very often] and repurpose or spray paint it, i can't help but think that Jesus would have been a thrifter/repurposer. he was a carpenter, yes, but i think he would've enjoyed finding old stuff, fixing it up, painting it, and giving it new life and a new home just as much as he enjoyed creating something from scratch. He wouldn't walk into Pottery Barn to buy the brand new, expensive sofa table. no, i think He would set out on a mission, searching from thrift store to thrift store, until He found  just  the piece He was looking for. and very likely, it would be the piece t...

right now i'm carrying around a burden of knowledge that i wish i didn't have. there are so many crazy things going on in so many lives around me and i wish that i had some answers. i wish i could just make it all go away, and if i'm being really honest, i just flat out wish they'd never told me. knowing is not always good . but alas, i know their secrets and i'm desperate for answers, some way to ease their burden without feeling like i'm being taken under myself. you just feel so helpless when lives are crumbling around you and you're powerless to do anything. have you ever been there? maybe your own life is crumbling and you're feeling hopeless? the following is a guest post that i wrote for jami a few weeks ago.  but oh, how i need it now: if you're like me, when trouble comes, you immediately scramble to find a solution. you try to solve problems using logical, earthly wisdom, gleaned from your vast pool of experience and knowledge....

[i don't...] i don't floss i don't bathe my daughter every day  she's pretty clean, i have to say i don't brush her teeth everyday   mostly because it is such a battle every time  i don't vacuum. ever. luckily my hubby does it  i don't get out much.   most days i stay at home and maybe run some errands,  but rarely do i have play dates scheduled or friends coming to visit.  you could call me a loner. i don't like talking on the phone , especially just to chat  i d on't keep up with friends. new or old, i am terrible at staying in touch, calling, emailing, etc.  i don't take my prenatal vitamins everyday.   at first they made me sick, and now i just forget since i'm not in the habit  i don't finish almost every book i start.  even if it's a really good one  and even when i start with the best of intentions of finishing i don't...

it was one of those mornings. the kind where you wake up feeling rested, your 2 year old is still sleeping soundly and you feel like you've won some grand prize if you have time to shower and eat and spend precious time with the Lord before she wakes up? yeah, it was that morning... and what struck me this morning was that God's goodness is so overwhelming, if we let it be. i woke up and read this post on my phone, and was sent immediately into prayer of thanksgiving. He gives us so much, and often it's that which we didn't even know we needed. that which we will miss if we don't open our eyes to see it. today it was: the birds chirping outside the window the cool fog resting on the grass the crisp shadows dancing through the trees the peaceful child  still sleeping the hot tea from a beautiful mug [seriously, those anthro mugs are works of art] the bittersweet remembering as i read through my journal the tender goodbye kiss of a hard-working husba...

i've had this song stuck in my head for days. and subsequently, i've had this little design for a set of prints stuck in my head, too, keeping me awake at night. i'll be framing them in white, hanging them longways, top-to-bottom. i just haven't decided where to hang them in my house.... lucky for you, i won't be selling them in the shop since the graphics i used to piece together the backgrounds aren't my original design, so you get to print them for free! hang them somewhere that you walk by every day, so you can be constantly reminded and thankful. ** just right click and choose "save as". then you can print or send off to costco, walmart, wherever you print photos **

this is a free printable!! click here to get to the original designer to download how many times have you heard that the best way to really embody the fruit of the Spirit, is to practice them and make them a habit in your life? practice patience and you will eventually be a patient person by nature. practice kindness and eventually it will just come naturally to you. the old me would have nodded along and wholeheartedly agreed with this. it sounds like a promising plan, until you have resolved to practice self-control in your eating, and then it flies out the window at the first sight of chocolate that afternoon... and you feel defeated and you wonder why you can't just stick to your resolutions. does that sounds like anyone else, or is it just me? it's all part of that striving life, performance, practice makes perfect. it's sounds okay, and it's not that it's wrong, but it's exhausting and it leaves no room for grace or relationship. Source: ...

if you're like me, when trouble comes, you immediately scramble to find a solution. you try to solve problems using logical, earthly wisdom, gleaned from your vast pool of experience and knowledge. you want immediate answers and you want to take immediate action. especially when a friend comes to you seeking advice, you feel obligated to solve their problems quickly, or at least give them a morsel of wisdom or thoughtful advice. in the "age of google", which i'm certain will be defined as an era in history books, we want instant information. we want reasons, explanations, diagnoses. we want answers and we want them now. but that's not how God works, and it's not how we were meant to live our lives...  come read the rest over here at Jami's blog . i'm guest posting for her "we encourage" link up! P.S. can you believe it's already October? Tessa will be here in less than four months!?! i can't even believe that....

i haven't been doing this for a month or two, but i wanted to start up again, sharing some things that you must read this week: first of all, i'm going to try  this for dinner this week. i originally saw it on " House of Smiths " but i'm linking to the original recipe for you. it looks super delicious and pretty healthy. a good idea for a quick and easy lunch too, don't you think: "Grilled Zucchini Pizza" and for all you lovers-of-fall and all things pumpkin?   Andrea posted a recipe for  homemade pumpkin spice latte   and it's yummy!   here's  the original recipe . i'll be honest, i still prefer my starbucks chai tea latte; i never was a huge fan of the pumpkin spice but you might love it, so here's how you can make it at home! oh, and if you think that's good, you will most certainly die over this: way-too-easy-to-make and ridiculously yummy pumpkin spice bread.  you could also make cupcakes/muffins. i b...