ALY ALLEN | THE BLOG

one of my very worst qualities, or biggest struggles, or whatever you want to call it? i'm terrible at prioritizing, i get distracted easily, and quite frankly i like doing things that i like doing. the only problem is that being a grown up means you have to do things you don't like sometimes, too. and sometimes you have to do more stuff you don't like than stuff you do like. if i get to doing too many chores in a row i end up feeling like my head might explode if i don't sit down and write, or design, or browse etsy, or scroll through instagram, or do something uplifting or fun. you could call me lazy, you could call me a dreamer, but what i'm not is "on top of things." and when i say "things", i mean the house, mostly. it's what my husband cares about most, and really it's his love language. if the house is messy when he walks in the door, i haven't loved him well that day. which is terrible because i'm worst at that ...

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...

i really need to sit down and write about blog sugar but i think i need a few more days to process everything, maybe? surreal, odd, amazing, wonderful... all in 7 short hours. it was all of those and more. but before i give you all the mushy fun stuff, there's something more pressing that i didn't want to wait any longer to tell you about: at one point in the evening,  Danielle shared with us about love146  and it floored me. i guess i have that empathy gene, inherited from my dad, that i instantly put myself in someone's place and feel their pain and fear and everything else. and i also have those overactive tear ducts from my mom. crying is a normal and instant response for anything and everything that moves me. love146 is an organization dedicated to preventing child sex trafficking around the world. they're also passionate about aftercare: after these children have been rescued, restoring them to a normal life and bringing them hope, and reminding the...

have you ever done an inductive Bible study? i'm assuming that's what this is, when you take a book of the Bible and simply read it, to study it for yourself. not consulting commentaries or other authors. so i'm going through Philippians that way right now, along with hundreds of other women doing the " maximize your mornings " challenge that i told you about. what i love about it is that God is able to teach me Himself, through His spirit. don't get me wrong, i looove me some Beth Moore [that's obvious if you've read my blog for very long], and have learned so much from Bible teachers. but to learn exactly what God would have me learn that day, straight from His Word and through His spirit? that's priceless if you ask me. take Philippians 1:12-18 Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else t...

you already know where i'm going with this, don't you? do you hate saying "no" as much as i do? i don't like saying "no". sure, there are times when it doesn't bother me at all. usually when it's something i really don't want to do, or something that i don't feel obligated to do, that i know i haven't been "called" to do. those times it's easy to say no. but when someone asks me to sing or do something music-related, i feel guilty saying no. i have narrowed it down to this: it's not that i am a people pleaser... i don't think i am one. it's not that i feel like people won't like me if i turn them down, or that i'll feel bad they won't be able to find someone else in my place, or anything like that. nope. it's that i wonder whether i really should be saying yes to them. if God really wants me to say yes, but i'm saying no anyway without consulting Him. it may be because i have a ...

you might get tired of me talking about Beth Moore... i hope you don't, though. most of the Bible studies that i've done in life have been written by Beth Moore, so i've learned a LOT from her. i was in the middle of a study called "Living Beyond Yourself" when i was really pregnant with my daughter. once she was born, i stopped going and never did finish the study [i had great plans to finish on my own and watch the video sessions online, but i think you all know what happens when the newborn arrives]. anyway, i plan to finish it now that i'm done with "Breaking Free". it's sort of a sequel, in my opinion. in the very first video session [way back when i watched it] i remember being so convicted of the fact that your "quiet time", or "devotions", or whatever you call your time in God's presence, needs to be in the morning . listen, i know this is hard. i know it's not easy for moms. especially moms of little ba...

hi friends! have you all heard of the "Inspired to Action" blog? i ran across it a few months ago and i love it. Kat is challenging and full of practical solutions for moms... the biggest thing she advocates is to "maximize your mornings" which is a challenge to wake up before your kids, have your devotional/quiet time, workout time, and plan-the-day time. before they even wake up. i definitely want to do this everyday. i typically do some sort of Bible reading daily, whether it's flipping through my 3x5 cards or reading through a day in my chronological Bible while my daughter eats breakfast, or maybe i wait until naptime to do the whole routine... and most days i have some time that's quiet to just pray [in the shower, during naptime, in the car]. but for about a year, i have wanted to be intentional about doing it in the morning  before everyone wakes up, before i have to put my mom hat on. Kat has set up a "maximize your mornings" chall...

i'm just gonna get right into it: how many of you know that your mind is really the battlefield when it comes to sin? you don't usually sin out of nowhere. things don't happen out of left field. it starts as a little seed in the mind. tiny, sometimes unnoticed, harmless even. or so you reason . you entertain it more frequently, and you justify it a little more, you convince yourself it isn't so bad. everyone else is doing it. okay, at least a few other people are doing it. i deserve it. i deserve to think or feel this way.  until one day it doesn't look so bad and you partake. in sin. sometimes the thought patterns seem unrelated to the actual sin that's later manifested. t hey're completely related . it's a tangled web we weave, isn't it? that's why it's called deceit. sometimes you figure you can stay out of sin just by keeping busy. that you won't have time to sin if there are too many other things on your plate. gosh, is that ...

well hello, friends [and hopefully family, who have just started reading. hi!] i wanted to pop in and share a little story with you. maybe some of you have already caught wind of this? i read about it on shauna's blog  today.  there's a sweet momma, Danielle , whom i've never met, and she has a blog... and her family is adopting a precious baby boy from Eastern Europe. this little guy, Sergey, has downs syndrome . what i didn't know, and i assume most of you didn't know either, is that if these sweet babies [who are currently staying in orphanages] are not adopted by the time they're 5, they are admitted to adult mental institutions with terrible chances of survival. Danielle explained it this way on her blog: If these children are not adopted between the ages of 4 and 5 they will be sent to an adult mental institution where they will be tied to cribs to live out the remainder of their lives.  Which statistically 95% of these children will die in the very...

i wanted to pop in and let you know that the fundraiser/giveaway that i shared with you last week raised $ 200 [and i wo n TWO of the giveaway items??!? yay! this has been my week for giveaways: leslie's hoop art , these cute cards from danielle's giveaway , and now, all from  Kim's giveaway :  a gift card to dunkin donuts and to itunes, and jewelry from here . yay!]  okay, back to the real reason for this post: i hope you'll take a few minutes to head over to Kim's blog again . she's hosting another giveaway, with tons of great items, including some items that are being carried over from last week. here's what Kim has to say: Please,   don't   assume that   someone else will do it . We need   ALL   of the help we can get. I can't stress that enough. The need at this particular orphanage is  great .   They need our help.   If you think that your $10 or $25 won't make that much of a difference,  you're right ....

i don't know about you all, but my heart has been burdened lately. burdened by the injustice all over the world, the fact that we have it so easy while the rest of the world suffers from lack of basic things that we take for granted i asked you last time to consider donating to the water well project in northern uganda and God delivered ! i love blog world. because i love the inspiration, the real-life examples of women who are doing God's work, the fresh Word that God speaks to me every single day through all of you in the comments and through the wonderful blogs that i read regularly.  Kim happened to comment on my blog one day [i think it was on the "water" post, actually] , so i headed over to hers. and this is what i read . [pretty please take the time to read it] . this woman is doing what God has asked her to do. and we all know that takes courage and strength and constant reliance on God's provision. the process of saying "yes, Lord" is a daily...

well, if any of you were curious about the outcome of the Lovelyn's plea for our help , that i wrote about in my last post ... $1700 needed to be raised to fund the one well at the one facility.  but, of course , in the way that only He can, and in the way that is so true to His character, God has blown us away. the total raised was   $5661. 27 that's over three times what was needed. to Him be all the glory.   [photo credit] after all that they've suffered  [and will likely continue to suffer]  i can't help but think that these children, who will finally be gaining access to clean drinking water, would  so  appreciate the promise of  Revelation 7:17   [so much more than any of us could ever really appreciate] "For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; He will lead them to springs of  living   water .  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. ” i hope that some of you were able to contribute! y...

i just put my little girl down for her nap. while we prayed, I thanked Jesus for clean water... at the mention of water, of course, she asked me for water. i looked around and there was a sippy cup on her dresser, one outside her door, two across the hall in my room, and undoubtedly three more scattered around the house. we are blessed.  we are fortunate.  we are  wealthy. and when i say  "we" , i don't just mean  me. i mean all of us. just having access to clean water is a luxury that many children do not know. what are we doing with all this wealth, as thousands of children are dying every day and we're concerned with the latest fashion trend that we must own or who was the best dressed at the grammy's or what new reality show everyone is talking about? sometimes our lives are so unrealistic and absurd that i can't even believe it. i hope sometimes you get stirred by the gross injustice and gaping discrepancy, too. when you're stirred, i hope that you a...