ALY ALLEN | THE BLOG

These past two months have been killer for me. I couldn't figure it out until one day it just smacked me in the face: somehow I lost my joy . Being in the Word, listening to worship music all day long, reading and writing about His goodness. Even all of that didn't snap me out of it. I have this tendency to allow burdens to pile up unnecessarily. My kids are driving me crazy, my husband has been working a lot, I have deadlines and due dates and to-do lists a mile long. I let that stuff swirl in my head non-stop. I think about it, mull over it, rehearse it, problem-solve it , and even make up scenarios in my mind.  As if I need one more thing to think about?  My brain is constantly full, taking up all the room I usually like to save for rational or creative or happy thoughts. It's just a jumbled mess in there sometimes. I''m a melancholy girl, and I can get pretty down when I allow myself to. I can feel down about my own life just as easily as I can about the s...

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....

hi friends! i'm new to virtual coffee world, but it looks like lots of fun. thanks for stopping by! if we were having coffee today, i'd be sipping my usual: a teaspoon of instant coffee [ralph's brand organic] with a few tablespoons of hot cocoa [trader joe's organic fair trade]. oh, and i'd be using my cute new mug that our small group pastor and his wife gave us the other night when they came over for dinner. such a  thou ghtful  gift! we'd probably take a seat at my new dining room table, and discuss my big plans for a much cuter and more colorful centerpiece. but for now, the candlesticks are fine. you would probably ask where i got my doily coasters, and i'd give you the link to buy them . and then i'd tell you that  this is why i've been M.I.A. the past couple days. not answering your phone calls and texts, or joining you on all those fun playdates. lots of flower making and lots and lots and lots of headband attaching...

i thought it might be appropriate today, as we round the corner to Palm Sunday, to share something i learned a few months ago through my Breaking Free Bible study. maybe it will change your lif e like it did mine? i want to talk about peace today. probably because i'm really busy right now. this may be more for my good than yours? i tend to get overwhelmed pretty easily, especially if there is more than one outing or event on the calendar in one day. for me, right now, compound that with multiple events, planned for the same day or the same week, 4 really important singing commitments in three weeks [i actually backed out of one of them yesterday, the fifth one, which is a whole 'nother post] , preparing for the queen bee market, and the keeping up with daily life... that's my calendar right now. it makes me crazy just thinking about it. i get stressed and flustered easily, especially if i sleep in and don't have my quiet time before my daughter wakes up. i need p...