Jehovah Jireh

The Lord is named many things. One of which, and my favorite: Jehovah Jireh- the Lord will PROVIDE. 

   Monday night was pretty difficult for me emotionally. However, the Lord once again proved Himself so incredibly faithful to meet my need physically and emotionally. He truly is upholding me. 

Every monday night I meet up with a couple of girls at the District in Tustin to pray. As we were sitting in Panera and my turn came to share my prayer requests, i started to cry. i have been so overwhelmed as of late to the point where i feel like i cant stand. the cares of the world have been pounding me. I had been praying all day that God would send shepherds to feed me according to His heart, and that night He did it. Two friends stood in a parking lot with me and encouraged me. it was such a blessing. and as i was about to open my car door, my friend hands me a check, and says, " the Lord told me to give you this." i have never been good at taking money from people. I gave her this look as to tell her with my eyes. she told me to check the date; that she had been carrying the check around since that time. once she said that, i knew it was from the Lord. 

        Once i got home i dove into the Word and i received a text with verses to encourage me. and as i was looking up these verses, The Lord completely spoke to me from Job 39:11 -12.  " will you trust him because his strength is great? or will you leave your labor to him? will you trust him to bring home your grain. and gather it to your threshing floor? But for me the Lord said, " Allison, will you trust Me because my strength is great? Will you leave your labor to Me? Will you trust Me to bring home your grain, and gather it to your threshing floor?

- THE LORD WILL PROVIDE!

All Nighter

Friday night was the Jr. High all nighter. The event starts at 10:30 pm friday night and goes until 8:00 am saturday morning. From 10:30 pm to 2:00 am the kids played at  Newhope  Gymnastics. from 2:00 am to 6:00 am we were at Boomers in Irvine. from 6:00 to 6:45 we drove along the coast watching the sun rise, and from 6:45 to 8:00 am we ate breakfast at Calvary Costa Mesa.

The night went pretty well: No one was seriously injured, it was cold but not too cold, there was a constant flow of coffee, I almost beat Jeff Gonzel at miniature golf, I was able to drive my own car, and because I did, I was able to go to starbucks on Baker and do my devotions. 

I came this close to Heaven... Dying that is.

It was amazing: glassy, perfect barrels. I ran back to the truck, grabbed my board, and headed down to the beach with my cousin. As we ran toward the water she asked me one last time if i was going to be fine without a wetsuit. Of course I was gonna be fine. Why wouldn't I be fine? I do amazingly in cold water. However, this was not cold water. It wasn't even close to cold water. We got past the waves and started paddling as fast as we could toward the sets. As I began  to look to my right i heard her yell, " I'm gonna take this one!"  The last thing i saw was the nose of the board dive straight into the water. I knew she was a goner. The board flying in the air proved it.  Seeing a set in front of me, I paddled as fast as I could to get past it. I knew I was gonna get trashed. By this time my body had almost acclimated to the freezing temperature. though, I never fully submerged my body in the waves.  

     The wave came full force forcing me to duck under it. As I was underwater my mind went completely blank, and i stopped breathing. It was awful. Even after I surfaced, I was without breath. finally, my body allowed me to gasp for air. I looked back, thanking God it was all over. However, seeing another wave heading my way, I swam as fast as I could toward shore. Without getting very far, I dove under again. The same thing happened as before. My mind went blank and my breath left. I surfaced once more and could not breath.  Finally I was able to stand and air filled my lungs. My cousin was on shore about to go back out when she saw what was happening to me.  Once I was out of the ocean, I started Hyperventilating.I put my hands over my mouth as tight as possible trying to get the whole "Paper bag" effect. For the most part it worked. Once my breathing was normal,I pretty much narrowed it down to the water being so freezing that it took my breath away. Hug me the next time you see me. I'm alive!

Jonah

    " What to you mean sleeper? Arise, call upon your God; perhaps  your God will consider us, so that we may not perish."(vs.6)  " For whose cause is this trouble upon us."(vs8) The people knew this was no ordinary storm. they knew it had purpose. Jonah told them what they needed to do to stop the storm but they fought it and tried to resist. Despite Jonah's unequivocal plea to be throne into the tumultuous sea, they strove to row their way to shore. " Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them."(vs.13) It always seems to happen that we try to exhaust every option before coming to the Lord. Like He is the Ace in our deck. But we save Him for our craziest games. When did the Lord become our last resort? " so they picked up Jonah, and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from raging. See what goodness the Lord has? He's waiting on the sidelines wanting to calm the storm for us, but we wait. We wait to use him. Our desire to exhaust every option before allowing the Lord to step in only exhausts us. God never desires for us to go at it alone. " now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah."(vs. 17) Notice, " the Lord had prepared," signifies a previous plan, that is now being fulfilled. Despite Jonah's disobedience, the Lord still desired to take care of him. God will never force Himself on us. He waits patiently on the side for us to call out His name. God still desired to calm the storm; the Lord still sought to keep Jonah safe. He sent a whale to swallow Jonah in-order to take him out of the conflict. It may not have been Jonah's ideal solution but God allowed him to make his own decision and when he failed, God sent a whale to swallow him. He does the same for us. For some reason God doesn't do small scale.  God does whatever He has to to accomplish His will. Apparently God knew it would take a whale swallowing Jonah, for him to submit to His will. Jonah sat in a belly of a whale for 3 days and 3 nights in order for him to learn brokenness - sitting in stomach acid, smelling the decay of fish, thinking of all the places he would rather be, thinking if he had only done it the Lord's way. I wonder what would have happened if Jonah  said, " yes" to the Lord from the beginning. Sometimes God has to send a great fish to swallow us to get our attention. to sit. to wait. to think. to cry out. to obey. 

                     Lets try saying, "YES" to the Lord and see what happens.

                                   let me know how it goes.

The Heavens Declare His Glory

 most days my head is somewhere in the clouds or focused on some unimportant pleasure in my day. however, today is just one of those days i want to barry my head in my Abba's chest and cry.

  work has grown increasingly awkward as a fellow employee has not so suddenly proclaimed his like for me and some times likes to say he loves me. how do you avoid the awkward conversation of: " you're not a christian, the Bible says not to be unequally yoked." as these will not make sense to him. this morning he referred to me as his girlfriend and I'm pretty sure i didn't sign up for that one. i didn't even know what to say. i just looked at him like he was crazy. and friday he kept asking me out. he said, " so are we gonna hang out this weekend?" i laughed... hard. his reply? " so i guess that means no." then there was an awkward pause. i said, " i don't think you want to hang out with me. Im kinda boring." He looked at me somewhat puzzled and let out a small laugh. but honestly to a  person who spends his time partying and wasting countless times waking up and not remembering anything from the night before, I probably would be really boring. i don't drink. i don't smoke. i don't swear. And i don't party. I love God. sunday morning i lead worship at a church. monday night I have a prayer group with a couple of girls. wednesday night i go to church and help out in the Jr.. high ministry. and saturday night i go to church. everything else kinda just fills in the holes. Despite the whole him not being a believer, we have too much in common. However i know with all my heart that the Lord has NOT called me to him.  And on top of that i have no idea what God is doing in a certain situation. Im in a waiting period. but my eyes are fixed upon Him. I just want to sit on the couch with my fathers arms wrapped around me. The Lord promises rest is found in Him. so if anyone needs me thats where I'll be.

what happens in Autumn

 driving down bear to meet up with my brother at the apple store, i felt autumn. it was as if the trees around me breathed a sigh of relief. they had been holding up there branches for far too long. Giving up their control, their colorful leaves fall to the ground. - invest time over coffee! -Fall in a cup.

Dave's fake birthday