Water!!!

 It's crazy how I can take things for granted! Check out this story posted by World Vision. 

When water makes you angry...

My goal is to someday not just give money to these organizations but go to these countries and make a difference. To be able to give someone a clean cup of water and while they drink tell them about the living water that comes from the Lord! 

Whoever believes in me, as^[f] the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’

 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Without Jesus

My sister and I have been on a songwriting frenzy lately! I love it! It's clear to me that  singing and songwriting  are the ways I express a lot of things to the Lord, but sometimes I feel like that's it. Whenever I start to do something a lot, it seems like that something is what my focus is on constantly! I mean I can just be talking with God and say something and immediately think  I COULD USE THAT IN A SONG! Not that that is bad but it doesn't make me feel connected to God like it used to.
  Last night I was praying and saying just that, how I feel like I've taken something that potentially is good (music), but have turned it into my focus, when my focus should always be on God , which makes me start to feel, well horrible. I hate it whenever I feel like He is not near, and it makes me begin to doubt, and that doubt makes me feel like He doesn't hear my prayers, when the evidence throughout my life shows that He does! I wanted this to change so badly! A picture came to my mind, if I'm depending on myself, then when I fall I would have to catch myself. I don't think that is even possible! You can stop a full face plant with your hands but you can't catch yourself, you can't carry your broken body to a place of peace and comfort. If I depend on other people it is possible that they could fall with me, but if I let God be my Savior, like he intended, I have nothing to fear! His arms will never tire, His love will never fail me.
Once again I had to say, Lord forgive me for taking my eyes off of you. Like Peter as soon as I take my eyes off of you I start to sink!  Although I don't like the pain that comes with it, I do love it when you realize that He is right there, that He has been there all along, you refocus and you can get back up! It shows just how real my God is! I long for a more intimate relationship with the Lord, that doesn't sway even for a second!
 Dani wrote a song yesterday and starting from the bridge it goes like this," when I forget how to believe, would you show me...You are there in the rain, you are there in the storm. When I feel so afraid you are there to keep me warm. You are my life, you are my love, you are my Lord. You are my life, you are my love, you are my hope." It is really beautiful!
I heard a new song from Shane & Shane, and I feel like it is a really good thing to remember. So as I continue to write songs, to speak boldly to people, or whatever I'm doing I need to remember...

Just three chords and a melody
Won't leave you a living legacy
Without Jesus
Just four songs and a parable
Might leave you something terrible
Just five bucks in an offering
Won't buy you some prosperity
Just a sixth sense of morality
Won't get you out of your depravity
Without Jesus, oh, without Jesus

You could memorize
Become a Mennonite
You could speak in tongues
And raise the dead to life
You could build a big church
Call it ministry
Teach 'em all they need to know to run a family
You could sell it all
Be burned at the stake
But what in the world have you to ever gain
Without Jesus, oh, without Jesus

If all I ever get out of laying my life down
Is thorns in the shape of a crown
On the brow of a man from Nazareth
And if all I get is what Jesus did,
And said, and put within my heart
Then I get it all
I have it all
Oh, I have it all
Everything is mine
Oh, I have it all
I have it all

Counting Up The Cost.

Let me start off by saying...ISN'T OUR GOD AWESOME!

You are meant for more! This life was meant to be given away. What do I mean by that? Luke 14:25-33 talks more about the subject, in fact the words spoken by Jesus in this passage are so key to the way we are meant to live our life. Jesus tells us we are to DIE to ourselves. That we need to be willing to walk away from everything. To turn your back on EVERYTHING! Have you thought about that?
As I embark on this journey I am struck with this idea of giving up everything. Am I willing to leave my family, if that is what it comes too? Am I willing to give up the possessions that mean so much to me? We are using the book Multiply in our family Bible study and within the first few pages you are given some HARD questions to ask yourself. I would encourage you to check it out, and ask yourself, What will it cost you? Please, don't just read this and walk away from it. I can't tell you how critical this is, and how we cannot take this lightly! Check out the Multiply website, it has an online copy of the book for free. I have decided to place my faith in Him, and follow in His steps. Will you?

Give me your eyes!

I think a big part of growing is being able to see the areas that you struggle in, and being willing to change. I recently received a letter from my sponsor sister and she told me that due to financial problems she was out of school. Well today alone I have said how much I dislike school probably like 20 times. I got home and remembered that she had told me that, so I brought it up to my dad. Immediately it hit me how selfish I am! Not even 5 minutes before, I had been talking about saving up my money to by drums, and eventually a guitar for myself resulting in thousands of dollars spent, while this 16 year old girl had recently been taken out of school because her family could not afford it. I had been complaining about how hard school is and how I just don't want to do it, while there is a girl my age, no not just a girl, thousands of kids who are unable to attend school due to financial issues, sickness, etc. things that can really quite easily be prevented. I mean just with a thousand dollars that I could easily spend on a guitar I could be supporting a family in Zimbabwe, for I believe 10 weeks!
 It's ridiculous that I can walk around my kitchen full of food and say to myself, what should I eat? when there are so many people in this world who are literally starving. The fact that I can find my self saying, "I'm starving!" sickens me! How could I be so selfish!
So we have established that I am selfish. Now the question is, how can I change that?
Mark 10:21 says this, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
We are not all necessarily called to sell all of our possessions, but before this verse a man had approached Jesus and said, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?", the man had kept all of the commandments, but there was one thing holding him back that Jesus saw, his possessions. After Jesus had told him to sell everything and give to the poor the man left because he was unable to do so. He was holding on to tight to his earthly treasures. 
What am I holding onto? Is my faith truly in my Heavenly Father? Do I really believe that he will provide for me? Absolutely! My selfish desires get in the way so much! They will always try and creep up on me, but I would much rather follow Jesus and inherit eternal treasure than to collect treasures on this earth. I would much rather live simply and know that I am providing food, medical attention, etc. to those who need it, than to be living in the nicest house with every instrument, or whatever. I say all this to challenge myself and whoever else might be reading this...what are you going to let control you? Are you going to live selfishly or selflessly? I choose to live selflessly! I know that I may have to recommit every day, but if that is what it takes I will do it! I want to be living totally and completely for God! I don't want be holding on to anything except for God, who will never leave me!
Thank you Jesus for all of the many blessings you have lavished upon me and my family! I pray that rather than having my eyes on me, you would...
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me you heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see

Day 21!

Today is the 21st day of our commitment. If you were to ask me, so how has that been going? the truth is that it is stinkin' hard! Over the past almost 3 weeks I have realized just how quickly I get angry with my family! It's discouraging! I feel like I will never be able to just take a deep breath and let go. And that's just it, I will never be able to truly and honestly stick to this commitment, to become slow-to-anger, or to just let go of things without God! This truth is obvious! We see it mentioned so many times in the Bible that we need to be dependent on God, not ourselves.That we don't have the ability to carry out good. Romans 7:18 says, "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. My desire is to do what is right in the eyes of Jesus! But it is obvious that my flesh is weak! Some people may look at this verse and say sarcastically, "Well that's encouraging!" But man! I truly am encouraged by this verse! I'm encouraged because I can look at myself and see that the reason why I just can't seem to learn is because my flesh is weak, but there is a way to overcome.
The chapter ends with this, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!..." Who will deliver me? God DID through Jesus Christ! Jesus made a way for us to be strong through the spirit! So although my flesh will be here as long as I live God is stronger, and greater! He has no limits! So whether you struggle with something huge or small or anywhere in between, we CAN overcome through Jesus Christ our Lord! And remember his word says, "My grace is sufficient for you"
Thank you JESUS!!!
So rather than depend on myself to fix my problems I will turn to GOD!

I Need You More!

Ever feel like you just want more of the Lord? like that's all you want is to be in His presence alone?
I find myself feeling that way literally every moment of the day, sometimes even begging, Lord, just come close. And He says I'm right here! I've been here all along. Just have faith. You draw near to me! His word says, Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you...Someday I will get it, I'm glad the Lord never gives up on me! Thank you Jesus, for being right here all this time!

 I need You more, 

more than yesterday  

I need You Lord  

More than words can say 

 I need You more  

Than ever before 

I need You Lord,  

I need You Lord

------- 
More than the air I breathe 

 More than the song I sing 

More than the next heartbeat 

More than anything, 

and Lord as time goes by 

 I'll be by Your side 

 Cause I never want to go back to my old life

-------- 

 We give you the highest praise

 We give you the highest praise 

We give you the highest praise

-------- 
More than the air I breathe

  More than the song I sing 

 More than anything 

 I need You more

Trust in the Lord!

The truth is everyone struggles. Even Christians. In fact the struggle seems to get harder as you become closer to God. But it also seems to get easier. I feel so stressed out lately with school, feeling like I need to be helping out around the house more, and college. There's other things too but I don't want to dwell on things that I can't really change. I have to do school, and because of that I can't help out around the house as much. College is going to come, but really all I need to be doing is praying about it and saving money. I mean there are better things to do then just sit around dwelling on these things that stress me out! The Bible says in Matthew 6,after talking a bit about why we shouldn't worry,
³⁴ “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
 God is there for me always and forever! I don't need to worry. In fact if I am worrying that means my focus is not on God alone, and that's where I want it.
 There is a struggle! There will always be, but what a great thing to know that God's right there, reaching out his hand, if only we would take it. And what is even greater is that when we make mistakes God's grace is sufficient!
 I have heard many people say that, and I have seen many people take it the wrong way. I am in no way saying we should be okay with sinning, or not try to live our life as Jesus did because there is forgiveness. We need to be striving to be like Him, striving to be pure. We're human, we will make mistakes but what I am saying is that we don't have to linger in them, because God forgives, if we just ask and forgive ourselves. We can't do it alone, it requires total devotion to Jesus!  He will help us.
Trust in the Lord! He will never let you down! He will never give us more than we can handle with him. Thank you Jesus for that promise! I choose to live in the peace that only you can give! I pray that as my worries fade away, I would be able to see more clearly the way you want me to go, as I follow in Your steps.

Let no one despise you for your youth...

whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

1 John 2:6

 Sometimes it gets frustrating being young. Personally it makes me feel like I can't totally follow in His steps. But 1 Timothy 4:12 says, Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Most youth have it much easier than adults. Although that means we may not be able to do all the things that Jesus did as a man, we are able to set an example to those younger than us and even to our elders. The Bible does talk shortly about Jesus as a twelve year old boy, in Luke chapter 2, 

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.⁴⁷ And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.⁴⁸ And when his parents^[f] saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”⁴⁹ And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?”^[g]50 And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.⁵¹ And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

⁵² And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature^[h] and in favor with God and man.

These verses encourage me! They show me that although we don't usually have the freedom to go wherever we want when we are young, we can still grow in the Lord, and gain wisdom. I see how Jesus was obedient, and submissive to his parents, which is what the Bible tells us to do. So as I continue following in His steps my prayer is that I would be obedient to my parents as well as God. That I would grow in wisdom, and in stature, and in favor with God and man. That I would set the believers and example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. What a great thing to have a head start in following Him while I am young!
-Ally

Show Jesus!

As a new week quickly approaches I would like to put this verse in your mind,
"For as the body apart from the spirit is dead,
so also faith apart from work is dead."
James 2:26              
 Let's live out our faith this week! How will people see Jesus in you if you aren't reaching out? How can they see Jesus if there are no works that show your faith? Let's follow in His steps, show compassion, love, humility, and kindness to everyone we see. And if you master all of that there's plenty of ways to show your faith, just open up your Bible, and let the Lord guide you. Be BOLD in your faith! Show Jesus! -Ally

Recap

Today was sort of a recap day.  I was able to look back at the week and see how I was obedient to the Lord, but I was also able to see the areas of my life that I really need to work on. Communication is one of them. A lot of people think I am super shy but once I get to talking about something I am passionate about..well Good Luck Charlie. :) Sorry it was just the perfect time to say that! So as I was saying when it comes to something that I am passionate about I am not a bit shy to let it all out. That can be a good thing, but can also be a bad thing. I tend to have an I'm right, and you should agree with me attitude. Which is not good! So I am praying that this week I will be able to work on my communication skills, hearing people out, and trying to see the situation from their point of view. I NEVER want to be a person that leads people away from Christ because of my stubbornness, and the way I communicate with them. So as Monday quickly approaches, let's follow in His steps together. By the way I would highly recommend the Jesus Culture Leadership Podcast. There is one on communication, so just click on the word podcast and it will bring you to the site. They are on ITunes as well.
God Bless~Ally

Words...

Words~Hawk Nelson
I'll be honest with you, today was a hard day. I was tired and cranky, but after asking for prayer and spending time with the Lord my attitude changed completely. We had Friday night hangout tonight, it's something we do with our youth group, and it was the perfect time to follow in His steps...for me the  challenge was keeping positive even though I was ridiculously tired! Dani's challenge however was much more complex. She struggles with forgiveness towards an individual that was there, and she is hurt by the gossip that go's on behind her back and the insults that are made to her face.  We got home and I confronted her about what I saw. The Bible says we are to love one another, to pray for those who persecute us. Gods kindness is supposed to lead us to repentance so we should show kindness praying that it would lead them to repentance. Still angry she said that now everyone thinks things about her that aren't true. I replied, "Does it really matter what people think or say?" I told her the only way it matters is if we let it, words can build us up, words can bring us down. Yes when people say hurtful things its going to sting, but are we going to let it get in the way of living a life pleasing to the Lord, and obeying Him? What if we showed extra kindness to our enemies? What are you going to let have dominion over you? Are you going to stoop down to their level or LET YOUR WORDS BE LIFE!? So now she is excited to see this person again, and show extra kindess and extra love!

On the extra bright side of today... Club Awesome will be in Tacoma May 21st and we are going! Holla! FIVE DIFFERENT NACHOS! five different nachos! :) So excited!

Club Awesome!

Is it really that hard?

Everyone was home today. Our house is always busy! We have a three year old, two year old, and 7 month old, and on Wednesdays and Thursday an 18 month old. CRAZY!!! So trying to balance helping out around the house, helping with the boys, and trying to stay caught up in school work is frightening! As Dani and I sat in the garage working a question came up, 'How do you follow in Jesus' steps at home?'

I brought the question to my mom and she said that living that way at home can actually be even harder than going out waiting for God to put a task in front of you. Maybe that is obvious to everyone else, but it wasn't to me. Now that I look at it I see that it's true, but I also see that it doesn't have to be hard. At home we are able to follow in His steps by showing kindness, being slow to anger, etc. As I follow in His steps I am praying that the fruits of the Spirit would be evident in my life at home, and anywhere he

leads me.

May Day!!

Yesterday was May day! Every year we do the 'ding, dong, ditch' and leave flowers on our friends doorstep. Last year a woman in our church passed away, her name was Honey and she was so sweet! Her name definitely suited her. :) Her husband never came to church, he wasn't a Christian, and I knew the Lord wanted me to leave flowers for her husband. So we loaded all four boys in to the back of the car and headed out to do some good old fashioned Ding Dong Ditching! It took us a while to find Honey's house, but we finally found it after driving through a beautiful area that I had never seen before. I put the flowers on the doorstep, rang the bell, and ran off. I got in the car and Mom and I prayed that these flowers would remind him that people cared. So day 2 of the challenge we were able to bless a few people, and most importantly we were able to show love to this man through something as simple as flowers...

I lead worship in our youth group and last night we played a song called Rescue, the song is so wonderful, and holds so much truth! I thought I would leave you with this...

You are the source of the life
I can't be left behind
No one else will do
I will take hold of you

I need You Jesus
To come to my rescue
Where else can I go
There's no other name by
Which I am saved
Capture me with grace
I will follow you

This world has nothing for me
I will follow You
This world has nothing for me
I will follow You

What would Jesus do? Day 1

Have you ever read the novel In His Steps? One of my assignments in English was to read this novel. Within a few paragraphs this question arose,"What does it mean to follow in Jesus' steps? What does it look like?"
Some people would have no problem answering this question. I didn't. My immediate response was,"Do what Jesus did in his life here on earth." The pastor challenged the church saying, "I want volunteers...who will pledge themselves, earnestly and honestly for an entire year, not to do anything without first asking the question, 'What would Jesus do?' And after asking that question, each one will follow Jesus as exactly as he knows how, no matter what the result may be." As I continued reading I was surprised at how hard it was for one of the characters in the book to apply this challenge to his life. Or rather how much sacrifice it was to live every moment asking the question, What would Jesus do? And then live it out.
 The next day my sister and I were doing devotions and we both decided to take this challenge. That first day we were in town at a stop sign and my sister asked, "Mom, what would Jesus do if he saw a homeless person asking for help?"
She answered,"I believe he would go and talk to her."
Dani looked back at me and now my hearts beating so hard that I feel like everyone in the car can hear it. Feeling nervous and wanting to stick with this challenge, my mom parked and let Dani and I out. We asked the lady what exactly she was needing, she said she needed blankets, I then asked if we could pray with her. We quickly prayed and headed to Walmart to pick up some blankets. We brought them to her. She didn't show much emotion but I felt peace about the situation, knowing that God just wanted to see if we would obey him.
So day one and we already had an encounter. As we sat in the garage doing Bible study with my dad we shared what had happened earlier, and he just so happened to be teaching about what it means to following Jesus. How cool is that? This past year God has been slowly but surely opening my eyes to what a true Christian is. To be totally honest if my sister hadn't of said anything that day I wouldn't have gone out of my way to go and talk with this lady. I love to see God changing Dani's heart and opening her eyes as well! I now realize that truly following Jesus' example, his steps, is a lot harder than it sounds, or maybe a lot scarier.
I am so excited to see what he has in store for this year, and for the rest of our lives as we dedicate all that we do to glorify the only one who is worthy, God, and follow in his steps.

P.S. No editing my work, I know I made mistakes :)