ALY ALLEN | THE BLOG

i never thought i would be someone who wrote a blog [that people actually read]. i never thought i would go to a conference [about blogging] and force myself to meet perfect strangers. i never thought i would "put myself out there" like this. i never thought i'd pursue friendship with people just because i liked their blog or something that they wrote inspired me. it just didn't seem like something i'd ever do. completely opposite of me, actually. the first friend that i ever "met" through the blog-world was leslie . totally out of character for me, i actually emailed her in response to a beautiful post she'd written that had ministered to me big time . i don't know why i was shocked when she emailed me back with a long and thorough response, completely speaking into my life. it was as if God had given her the very words. in fact, i'm sure He did. we've kept in touch throughout the year. even had coffee a few weeks ago. [sou...

reese and i did a little maternity shoot yesterday. there are some of just her, some of just me, some of the two [actually, three] of us girls. my cousin-in-law Melissa is about to open up a photography business, and she's been needing some maternity photos. i wish i could say i was happy to oblige and be her maternity model. but i was very reluctant! while i knew the photos were going to turn out amazing, i was less than confident with my appearance. to say i am self-conscious and uncomfortable right now would be a huge understatement! i'm due in 4 weeks and you can certainly tell. after seeing how these photos turned out, i told Melissa i will forever consider her a m a g i c i a n , in addition to a photographer. the fact that i love every single photo [even the ones of myself with my face actually showing! ha!] was legitimately shocking, and pleasantly surprising. THANK YOU Melissa! i'll post a few here, and then i want you to head over to her blog for the rest :) ...

last instafriday of the year! i wish i had more from christmas, but i'm so bad about taking pictures!  let's just say it's because i'm enjoying the moment too much to grab my phone and snap a photo :) from our christmas eve candlelight service. i love this part. and then we sing "this little light of mine" :) daddy reading the christmas story out of the "jesus storybook bible" on christmas morning. we had her attention the whole time which was so nice! and this was waiting for her downstairs... she wanted nothing to do with all the other gifts for the rest of the morning. we literally had to force her to open them! i'm going to miss this view, which is probably coming down tomorrow :( one of her gifts was a build-a-bear gift card.  [such a good idea, by the way!] she was adamant about one thing: a purple bear...  even if there were peace signs all over it. my mother-in-law added some new mugs...

being a parent is a heavy responsibility.  and that's the biggest understatement of the century, right?  it requires all of you: your heart, your mind, your physical body.  it evokes every emotion: heartache, frustration, intense love, desperation, sheer joy.  it takes planning, creativity, wisdom, supernatural strength, and mostly a lot of prayer.  sometimes i feel like i can't give my daughter everything she needs. and i can't. but the beautiful thing is that i was never meant to. that's not how any of us were designed. Jesus is the only one who can give us everything we need. over and over again. if He's the answer for me, then He's the answer for my daughter even though it may look differently at her age. as she's getting older, i'm realizing that i can't protect her from every little thing like i could when she was a baby. she's interacting with other kids, other adults, she's away from me frequently. i can...

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."

** 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....