What. A. Day.
Please prepare yourself, as I tell you about my crazy, lovely, insane and maybe even a little disturbing day. Read this at your own risk.
So the day started as usual. I woke up, went downstairs, and was greeted by a short girl with fluffy hair, who exclaimed, “Ayyie!”.
I then did my regular morning nonsense, then moving into the afternoon everyone ‘round this establishment (AKA, my family) got ready to go shop with my Grandparents and Great-Grandmother.
The getting ready process consisted of me listening to Seabird’s Christmas EP (and dancing along with that), doing my hair, etcetera..
Jumping to the shopping part. It was raining. HARD. Like, for shizzle crazy rain, man. Everyone ate at Cracker Barrel (went without having any crazy waiter/waitress trauma! But that’s an ENTIRELY different blog..), and so we went on to the shopping portion. So other than a crazy rain storm, the day played out pretty smoothly. Got some CDs at Lifeway, went to Belk, Starbucks, Wal Mart, blah blah blah.
Now for the crazy part.
As we pulled into our driveway, at our humble home, what we saw in our driveway, was NOT what one would like to see when returning at night, in the freezing cold rain.
No, it was not a dead body. (:P)
The one day we decide to leave our garbage outside on our car port (we have no garbage pick-up, so we take ours to the dump), so animal decides to peak inside EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE 8000 BAGS.
Yep, there was garbage ALL OVER CREATION. Literally.
Soooooo…. Guess who volunteered to clean it up?
*raises hand*
Yep, yours truly.
So basically, I spent the night in the cold rain, in our yard, picking up garbage.
Friggin huzzah.
:P
Moving on..
After the garbage fiasco, I read tweet from my darling Aunt Shannon, saying that my favorite photo editing website, Picnik, is being shut down April 19th. This is when I lost it.
I’m SOOOO sad!!!! I mean, I’m not usually a “sit in puddle of sadness” type of girl, but I’m just flat out upset.
So, that pretty much sums up my day. Now what am I doing? Sitting here, watching Project Runway, writing this blog. Sooo.. How am I supposed to fit a moral/life lesson in this blog?!?!
Well, let’s break it down:
What’s wrong with this blog? I mean, I’m just ranting. Did I once say, “I praised God for giving me the opportunity to get out of the house, even on a rainy day” or “I praised God for giving me food to eat today”, or really ANYTHING about praising God. Nope, not once. Because, truth is, I DIDN’T praise God when I should have. As a human, I just focus on the negative. (Hence this blog)
I was actually talking about this with a friend of mine, along with talking about this at Youth Group on Wednesday. It’s seriously a PRIVILEGE to praise God. Why do I take advantage of that? Even to the extent of NOT DOING IT?
Because I’m a human, and I’m an ungrateful little Cottonheadedninnymuggins. (yep, just had to use an Elf reference.)
But guess what? God still loves me, even when I’m a cottonheadedwhosinwhat!!!! I mean, with that all said (inside joke with my Mother..), wouldn’t I have the DESIRE to praise God?! Really thinking about that, it DOES make me want to praise Him! Even in my cruddy-sinner self, God loves me SO MUCH.
So, I will, totally, without a doubt, praise YOU in this storm (even when I’m picking up garbage), God. Because you rock my socks off.
Thanks for reading one of the largest blog posts in history. :)
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,
-Allie.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Oh heavens.
Hi y'all!
I'm SO sorry I haven't posted since NOVEMBER! I just fail at blogging. Anyways, I've been mainly posting on my tumblr, since I can do it from my iPod. I'll still be posting the same posts from there to here (yay copy and paste!), but if you're impatient, feel free to check my tumblr. :) Here's the link:
http://allieisawesome2.tumblr.com/
New years resolution that I'll post here more!
-Allie.
I'm SO sorry I haven't posted since NOVEMBER! I just fail at blogging. Anyways, I've been mainly posting on my tumblr, since I can do it from my iPod. I'll still be posting the same posts from there to here (yay copy and paste!), but if you're impatient, feel free to check my tumblr. :) Here's the link:
http://allieisawesome2.tumblr.com/
New years resolution that I'll post here more!
-Allie.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Dancing with Jesus.
Hi friends!
I'm in a blog-y mood lately.. anyway.
I didn't really plan this blog out, so sorry if it's a little confusing/weird/ramble-ish.
This past Sunday, I went to a community Thanksgiving service for Youth at another church in my town. So I went with my Youth Group, and expected the normal, "Be thankful" service. This sounds dreadful, but I mean, what AM I supposed to expect? But I was also really excited, because my Youth worship band was performing (woot woot!).
Long story short, the band did an AMAZING job (as always), and so after they performed, came skits and dances people were doing.
The skit/dance that one group performed REALLY stuck out for me. It was portraying a girl, and in the start, she's dancing with Jesus. And through out the dance, she was torn away from her dance with Christ because she was tempted by sinful things. Bad relationships with boys, stealing, and many more, and the last one was taking a gun to her head and commiting suicide. But the part that brought tears to my eyes (I'm not a cryer, so it's a pretty big deal when I cry. ;P), was she threw down the gun, and tried to run back to Jesus. (He was on the other side of the stage, and the sinful things were on the side she was on. So she was kinda stuck.) So she through the crowd, being pulled at and beated by the sinful things, but guess what? She made her way back to Jesus. (That's when I cried...) At the end, all the evil things died, (fell over.) and she was dancing with Jesus.
I kinda love the expresssion I just made up (ha). "Dancing with Jesus".
I think our relationship with Christ is constantly up and down. Very few people (so it seems) have a perfectly stable relationship with Christ. (Or anyone, for that matter.)
Our relatoinship with Christ can sometimes be compared to a girl who is in love; and when she is unsure of the relationship, takes a flower and plucks the petals, saying "He loves me," with one, and the next saying "He loves me not".
Like I said, our relationship with Christ is constantly up and down. We are constantly (I've used that word a lot in this blog post..) questioning, weather "He loves me" or "He loves me not".
When we are on a high, "He loves me", we feel great. We want to be all about Him.
But, when we are on a low, "He loves me not", we can easily run to things of this earth that are NOT good. (Ring any bells here?) We think God isn't with us anymore, so we have to look toward sin to kind peace. We want it to be all about us.
Fact of the matter is, God loves us NO MATTER WHAT. Period. The end.
The problem is, we don't always believe it. In the society we live in, 2011, it is SO easy to look toward sin instead of God.
It seems to me sometimes that all I hear about, weather through the news, Facebook, WHATEVER, it's just about someone going the wrong direction. As in, going toward the sinful side of the stage, rather than where Jesus is on the other side. (Again with the, ringing any bells?) Sometimes I feel like all I hear about is sin. Even if I comment on their post on facebook saying, "Hey, you should look up, -reference to a verse-. I'm praying for you." or something on those lines, (Even if I spend 15 minutes typing something out,) why does it seem sometimes it's not enough? Why won't my words shake their heart?
And I've come to realize, that I can put my ALL into someone, and they may never change. Not saying I'll give up, but sometimes it's all God's will. I just have to say what I think He wants me to say, and leave the rest up to Him.
Wait, where is this blog going? I'll try to get back to my point..
Point is, temptation is only a step away from you. Like, seriously. Take one wrong turn, and your life could forever be changed.
I should probably say, "I don't mean to scare you", but I DO. I want this to scare you. Because SIN IS SCARY. No doubt about it. There's NOT ONE GOOD THING ABOUT SIN. We need to walk to the other side of that stage. To Jesus. To peace, to love, to comfort, to eternal life.
Deuteronomy 6:5 says,
And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
It sounds like a command, of which it is. But, God wouldn't command us to do anything that wouldn't benefit us, would He? A parent doesn't say, "Bob, (yes, Bob.) go throw an orange at that tree over there." Now that sure isn't benefitting Bob's life, now is it? (Plus, it's wasting fruit.)
Basically, loveing Christ is the best thing that we could ever do. Period. End of story. Kay thx bye.
I'll leave you with this - What petal are you on? A, "He loves me", or a "He loves me not"?
I'm praying that you're on a "He loves me".
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,
-Allie.
I'm in a blog-y mood lately.. anyway.
I didn't really plan this blog out, so sorry if it's a little confusing/weird/ramble-ish.
This past Sunday, I went to a community Thanksgiving service for Youth at another church in my town. So I went with my Youth Group, and expected the normal, "Be thankful" service. This sounds dreadful, but I mean, what AM I supposed to expect? But I was also really excited, because my Youth worship band was performing (woot woot!).
Long story short, the band did an AMAZING job (as always), and so after they performed, came skits and dances people were doing.
The skit/dance that one group performed REALLY stuck out for me. It was portraying a girl, and in the start, she's dancing with Jesus. And through out the dance, she was torn away from her dance with Christ because she was tempted by sinful things. Bad relationships with boys, stealing, and many more, and the last one was taking a gun to her head and commiting suicide. But the part that brought tears to my eyes (I'm not a cryer, so it's a pretty big deal when I cry. ;P), was she threw down the gun, and tried to run back to Jesus. (He was on the other side of the stage, and the sinful things were on the side she was on. So she was kinda stuck.) So she through the crowd, being pulled at and beated by the sinful things, but guess what? She made her way back to Jesus. (That's when I cried...) At the end, all the evil things died, (fell over.) and she was dancing with Jesus.
I kinda love the expresssion I just made up (ha). "Dancing with Jesus".
I think our relationship with Christ is constantly up and down. Very few people (so it seems) have a perfectly stable relationship with Christ. (Or anyone, for that matter.)
Our relatoinship with Christ can sometimes be compared to a girl who is in love; and when she is unsure of the relationship, takes a flower and plucks the petals, saying "He loves me," with one, and the next saying "He loves me not".
Like I said, our relationship with Christ is constantly up and down. We are constantly (I've used that word a lot in this blog post..) questioning, weather "He loves me" or "He loves me not".
When we are on a high, "He loves me", we feel great. We want to be all about Him.
But, when we are on a low, "He loves me not", we can easily run to things of this earth that are NOT good. (Ring any bells here?) We think God isn't with us anymore, so we have to look toward sin to kind peace. We want it to be all about us.
Fact of the matter is, God loves us NO MATTER WHAT. Period. The end.
The problem is, we don't always believe it. In the society we live in, 2011, it is SO easy to look toward sin instead of God.
It seems to me sometimes that all I hear about, weather through the news, Facebook, WHATEVER, it's just about someone going the wrong direction. As in, going toward the sinful side of the stage, rather than where Jesus is on the other side. (Again with the, ringing any bells?) Sometimes I feel like all I hear about is sin. Even if I comment on their post on facebook saying, "Hey, you should look up, -reference to a verse-. I'm praying for you." or something on those lines, (Even if I spend 15 minutes typing something out,) why does it seem sometimes it's not enough? Why won't my words shake their heart?
And I've come to realize, that I can put my ALL into someone, and they may never change. Not saying I'll give up, but sometimes it's all God's will. I just have to say what I think He wants me to say, and leave the rest up to Him.
Wait, where is this blog going? I'll try to get back to my point..
Point is, temptation is only a step away from you. Like, seriously. Take one wrong turn, and your life could forever be changed.
I should probably say, "I don't mean to scare you", but I DO. I want this to scare you. Because SIN IS SCARY. No doubt about it. There's NOT ONE GOOD THING ABOUT SIN. We need to walk to the other side of that stage. To Jesus. To peace, to love, to comfort, to eternal life.
Deuteronomy 6:5 says,
And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
It sounds like a command, of which it is. But, God wouldn't command us to do anything that wouldn't benefit us, would He? A parent doesn't say, "Bob, (yes, Bob.) go throw an orange at that tree over there." Now that sure isn't benefitting Bob's life, now is it? (Plus, it's wasting fruit.)
Basically, loveing Christ is the best thing that we could ever do. Period. End of story. Kay thx bye.
I'll leave you with this - What petal are you on? A, "He loves me", or a "He loves me not"?
I'm praying that you're on a "He loves me".
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,
-Allie.
This is what I believe.
Hey y'all!
Okay, so this isn't a really uplifting note to start on with this blog, but I'm cutting right to the chase.
A few days ago, I found out someone I know, of whom was a Christian, is now an athiest.
I was heartbroken, sad, mad, upset, confused, and about 8,000 other things that I won't go into.
I don't want to go into many personal details about this person, but I know her family will be greatly upset. I mean.. if you lived in an all Christian home, and one of your children decided God wasn't true anymore, what would you think?
But do you know what the sadest part about this situation in my opinion, is? She is happy. Yes, you heard me. She is happy without God.
This was the part the struck me the hardest: How can you be HAPPY WITHOUT GOD?!?!?!??! Honestly, I cannot answer this question. Other than, you would be putting your own earthly wants, than what path God has planned for you. Going down your own route. Ditching God, and saying: "Hey! The earth seems pretty cool without You - see ya!"
Sounds pretty stupid, huh? I agree.
Now, I don't want you to think I'm dissing this person, because I'm not. She knew (and said) she was going to get A LOT of different opinions on her decision, so I'm just voicing my opinion.
Okay, now to get to the root of this blog: Why am I writing this?
1. It's a good therapy session for me.
2. I think this will encourage you.
3. This is a spiritual lesson for me. (And hopefully you, too.)
So, how is this a spiritual lesson?
Well, if you aren't already by now, I've questioned what I believe because of this (sad) situation.
Question to self (and you, too): What do I believe?
I'll go over what I believe..
I believe God is alive, and working every detail about each of our lives. (Period.)
I belive God cares about us, and only wants the best for us. So, that simply requires us to believe in Him. Because happiness just isn't going to happen without Him.
I could literally go on for hours about what I believe, but at some point NewReleaseTuesday will probably get annoyed at the length of my blog posts..
I find it odly convenient that one of my favorite artists, Aaron Shust, just came out with an (awesome) new album, called "This is what we believe".
The chorus goes:
"Truly this Man is the Son
The Son of God
Who takes away the sins of the world
This Man is the Lamb
The Lamb of God
Who takes away the sins of the world
This is what we believe"
Yep, that pretty much sums up what I believe. Now, I'm not saying this is what you believe - I've learned my lesson that I cannot say what other people believe. I know what I believe. That is a fact. Now, what do YOU believe?
I would LOVE to hear what you guys believe - weather we share the same things in common that we believe or not, I'd love to hear what you all have to say. (Comment below!)
Until next time, my friends. Hope you have a nice Thanksgiving! (Hey, I haven't made a thanksgiving-y blog yet.. I'll get on that..)
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness. faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,
-Allie.
Okay, so this isn't a really uplifting note to start on with this blog, but I'm cutting right to the chase.
A few days ago, I found out someone I know, of whom was a Christian, is now an athiest.
I was heartbroken, sad, mad, upset, confused, and about 8,000 other things that I won't go into.
I don't want to go into many personal details about this person, but I know her family will be greatly upset. I mean.. if you lived in an all Christian home, and one of your children decided God wasn't true anymore, what would you think?
But do you know what the sadest part about this situation in my opinion, is? She is happy. Yes, you heard me. She is happy without God.
This was the part the struck me the hardest: How can you be HAPPY WITHOUT GOD?!?!?!??! Honestly, I cannot answer this question. Other than, you would be putting your own earthly wants, than what path God has planned for you. Going down your own route. Ditching God, and saying: "Hey! The earth seems pretty cool without You - see ya!"
Sounds pretty stupid, huh? I agree.
Now, I don't want you to think I'm dissing this person, because I'm not. She knew (and said) she was going to get A LOT of different opinions on her decision, so I'm just voicing my opinion.
Okay, now to get to the root of this blog: Why am I writing this?
1. It's a good therapy session for me.
2. I think this will encourage you.
3. This is a spiritual lesson for me. (And hopefully you, too.)
So, how is this a spiritual lesson?
Well, if you aren't already by now, I've questioned what I believe because of this (sad) situation.
Question to self (and you, too): What do I believe?
I'll go over what I believe..
I believe God is alive, and working every detail about each of our lives. (Period.)
I belive God cares about us, and only wants the best for us. So, that simply requires us to believe in Him. Because happiness just isn't going to happen without Him.
I could literally go on for hours about what I believe, but at some point NewReleaseTuesday will probably get annoyed at the length of my blog posts..
I find it odly convenient that one of my favorite artists, Aaron Shust, just came out with an (awesome) new album, called "This is what we believe".
The chorus goes:
"Truly this Man is the Son
The Son of God
Who takes away the sins of the world
This Man is the Lamb
The Lamb of God
Who takes away the sins of the world
This is what we believe"
Yep, that pretty much sums up what I believe. Now, I'm not saying this is what you believe - I've learned my lesson that I cannot say what other people believe. I know what I believe. That is a fact. Now, what do YOU believe?
I would LOVE to hear what you guys believe - weather we share the same things in common that we believe or not, I'd love to hear what you all have to say. (Comment below!)
Until next time, my friends. Hope you have a nice Thanksgiving! (Hey, I haven't made a thanksgiving-y blog yet.. I'll get on that..)
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness. faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,
-Allie.
Monday, November 14, 2011
My 80's Self!!!
Hey y'all! I recently went to a costume party, and I went as an 80's person. ;) Sorry I'm awesome.
-Allie.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Uhh.. Woah.
Hi friends!
Wow. Today has been a day like no other. Long story short, my sweet 1 1/2 baby sister grabbed a curling iron today, and burned the stew out of her hand. She was rushed to the ER by my Mom and Aunt, and I was left at home with the rest of my family. I must say, I haven't felt THAT low in a while. I was really scared for my baby sister's health. Taking into account I didn't know 100% of the story, I didn't even know if she would be okay. I just repeated over and over in my head, "God, PLEASE make her better". Over and over and over. And over. (You get the idea)
I'll go ahead and tell you she's fine, just so you won't break a sweat. ;) She has some bad blisters on her hand, but she's fine otherwise.
But after I got the phone call that she was okay, it was like a HUGE burden had been lifted. I barely even had anything to do with it, (I'm just sorta hard on myself, so I kind of take the blame for everthing.. But we won't get into that today.) but I just felt like this huge worry was gone.
Have you ever had a day like that? Weather it was just from a little thing or a big one, when something is lifted, it feels SO GOOD to not be sitting in a puddle of worry.
Lets back up a little for a sec, so I can hit the highlights of this blog - My prayer. PLEASE make her better. Over and over..
After I prayed that prayer, I tried to remind myself of what my small group leaders at church had talked about in our lesson. We talked about a man who got robbed, (I can't remember the details of who he was, just some dude in some book..) but rather than being sad for his loss, he looked on the bright side of things. One of the things he said, was "I'm thankful I was not the one robbing someone else". Amoung a list of other things, that one hit me the hardest. But anyways, my point is, after I prayed that prayer, I tried to make a list of things to look on the bright side about (to keep myself from crying, because I didn't wear waterproof mascara). Here are a few I came up with:
She didn't die.
She only has a couple blisters, and not a HORRIBLE burn.
If didn't fall on her face.
It will heal quickly.
Though these are the only ones I remember, I came up with a few more, but I can't really remember them. Point is, perhaps the next time you're in a bad situation, you could make your "Thankful list".
Now, onto my other point: Coming to Jesus with our burdens.
One of my FAVORITE verses, Matthew 11:28, says:
Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."
(Time for an Aaron Shust refrence..)
The first time I heard this song, was years ago, when I went to my very first concert EVER, an Aaron Shust concert. Needless to say, I was excited. (Since Aaron Shust is my favorite artist ever...) So his song, "Come to me", was one of the songs he sang. Since then I always like humming it, because it was catchy and what-not, but the lyrics never really sunk in until recently. I absolutely LOVE how Jesus says it. He just says, "Come". When you have heavy burdens, and are weary, and your baby sister is in the ER and you're about to have a nervous break-down, all you gotta do is, come.
So I'll go ahead and wrap this puppy up. Blessings to y'all in the coming Thanksgiving-ness season, and remember:
Make your Thankful list,
and all you gotta do is come.
Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulnes and Self-Control,
-Allie.
Wow. Today has been a day like no other. Long story short, my sweet 1 1/2 baby sister grabbed a curling iron today, and burned the stew out of her hand. She was rushed to the ER by my Mom and Aunt, and I was left at home with the rest of my family. I must say, I haven't felt THAT low in a while. I was really scared for my baby sister's health. Taking into account I didn't know 100% of the story, I didn't even know if she would be okay. I just repeated over and over in my head, "God, PLEASE make her better". Over and over and over. And over. (You get the idea)
I'll go ahead and tell you she's fine, just so you won't break a sweat. ;) She has some bad blisters on her hand, but she's fine otherwise.
But after I got the phone call that she was okay, it was like a HUGE burden had been lifted. I barely even had anything to do with it, (I'm just sorta hard on myself, so I kind of take the blame for everthing.. But we won't get into that today.) but I just felt like this huge worry was gone.
Have you ever had a day like that? Weather it was just from a little thing or a big one, when something is lifted, it feels SO GOOD to not be sitting in a puddle of worry.
Lets back up a little for a sec, so I can hit the highlights of this blog - My prayer. PLEASE make her better. Over and over..
After I prayed that prayer, I tried to remind myself of what my small group leaders at church had talked about in our lesson. We talked about a man who got robbed, (I can't remember the details of who he was, just some dude in some book..) but rather than being sad for his loss, he looked on the bright side of things. One of the things he said, was "I'm thankful I was not the one robbing someone else". Amoung a list of other things, that one hit me the hardest. But anyways, my point is, after I prayed that prayer, I tried to make a list of things to look on the bright side about (to keep myself from crying, because I didn't wear waterproof mascara). Here are a few I came up with:
She didn't die.
She only has a couple blisters, and not a HORRIBLE burn.
If didn't fall on her face.
It will heal quickly.
Though these are the only ones I remember, I came up with a few more, but I can't really remember them. Point is, perhaps the next time you're in a bad situation, you could make your "Thankful list".
Now, onto my other point: Coming to Jesus with our burdens.
One of my FAVORITE verses, Matthew 11:28, says:
Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."
(Time for an Aaron Shust refrence..)
The first time I heard this song, was years ago, when I went to my very first concert EVER, an Aaron Shust concert. Needless to say, I was excited. (Since Aaron Shust is my favorite artist ever...) So his song, "Come to me", was one of the songs he sang. Since then I always like humming it, because it was catchy and what-not, but the lyrics never really sunk in until recently. I absolutely LOVE how Jesus says it. He just says, "Come". When you have heavy burdens, and are weary, and your baby sister is in the ER and you're about to have a nervous break-down, all you gotta do is, come.
So I'll go ahead and wrap this puppy up. Blessings to y'all in the coming Thanksgiving-ness season, and remember:
Make your Thankful list,
and all you gotta do is come.
Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulnes and Self-Control,
-Allie.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
SWITCHFOOT!!!!!
Hey y'all! Since it's going to take me about 10 years to upload all of the Celebrate Freedom pictures, here's a sneak peak. These are all of my favorite Switchfoot shots. (So basically my favorite shots from Celebrate Freedom, haha)
Zoom in on your computer's, and look closely. They rock. ;) (I hate to brag.. But not really.)
Enjoy!
-Allie.
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