Ingredients

I love to cook! It is something Callie and I enjoy doing together. We like to watch cooking shows and try to recreate some of those yummy dishes and also try to make some of those dishes even healthier. I am fascinated by great chefs and their abilities to take just about any ingredient and make a masterpiece that will just melt in your mouth. Last spring I had the awesome opportunity to join my mom & sisters in Atlanta for a Food Network weekend. We had a great time and were able to see some famous chefs and hear some of their cooking secrets. We sampled their cuisines and were blown away by some of the simplicity in those dishes. What we learned was that is wasn’t about making difficult dishes, but taking flavorful ingredients and combining them together to produce a winning combination; a dish that brings comfort, satisfaction and “happy taste buds”. It was a lot of fun!

As I thought about that simple concept, it made me stop and think about our own lives as Christians. What ingredients does it take to make our lives pleasing to our Lord? We all know that what goes in is what will eventually come out right? God’s Word says:

Galatians 6:7-8 “…A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”

If we planted potatoes, we would not expect to grow carrots; we would expect to see potatoes. The same is true for our selves. If we put things into our minds and bodies that are not pleasing to our God, then we are not going to produce characters, actions, and ministries that are glorifying to him. But on the other hand; if we ingest those things that are of God such as; his Word, godly conversations, music that praises and edifies, and many others, then we put together a recipe that can produce a soul-satisfying, God-honoring masterpiece that can make a difference in the Kingdom of God. That’s right; it is all about the ingredients! As I have discovered, the ingredients we put in these marvelous temples God has given us is up to us. Do we want to live flavor-filled lives that are honoring to our Creator or do we want to fill our temples with ingredients that are full of bacteria and mold that will not produce something that is edible?

Proverbs 15:14 “The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.”

I want a life that is full of flavor and is pleasing to my God! I want to fill my temple with ingredients that produce a delectable dish at my Master’s table. All that I am is only for him!

I pray that everyone has a flavor-filled week and enjoy a tasty treat of God’s Word!

Blessings~

Allison

"Everybody Drink Water"

As a family of five, dining out can be a little pricey; so on the occasions that we do eat out it is a great treat for the family. With the cost of everything going up, Matt and I made a new rule that when dining out (since I am the master at “penny-pinching”) everyone would drink water. That, in itself, saves us about $10 and you know how I just love a bargain! Well, after one of Ben’s basketball games, we decided to take the family to Wendy’s for dinner. Yes, I know, fine dining, huh? Well, the kids were so excited not to be eating at home so Wendy’s was perfect for them. On the way there, they were going over the menu trying to decide exactly what they were going to eat. During all the buzz in the car, Caleb raised his hands in the air to get our attention and spoke up very seriously and matter-of-factly and said “Everybody drink water”. We all started laughing, but the mom that I am was very proud that he remembered the family rule!

A few days later, the words that my young son so boldly proclaimed that night kept going through my head, “Everybody drink water.” Have you ever been so thirsty that all you could think about was getting just a sip of water? Nothing could satisfy your thirst like a drink of water. It is clear, cool, and refreshing, and it just soothes the body. We all know the benefits of drinking water. It is necessary for keeping the body hydrated, maintaining your body’s metabolism, it is so important for brain function, and of course there are many more benefits.

I then began to think about the “Living Water”. This is what my soul thirsts for! Just as my body needs water to function, my soul longs for the Water that flows freely from the fountain of life.

Psalm 36:9 “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.”

I love the story of the Samaritan woman in John 4. Jesus, tired and weary from his journey, asked the woman at the well for a drink of water. She was confused that he, a Jew, would be talking to her. As he began to share with her about the living water, she began to think the water that he was speaking of could make her life easier. But you see, she was missing it. The water that Jesus was speaking of would be the drink that would satisfy the thirst of her soul, the water that would provide eternal life. This was Messiah!

John 4:13-14 “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

This is the water that will change the very foundation of her life! When I think about the times I get thirsty, physically thirsty, water is what I reach for to satisfy, but the times when my soul is dry and longing to be quenched, I go to the Living Water! He replenishes and rehydrates the depths of my soul and is necessary for me to function! What sweet, refreshing times with my Lord!

I encourage you this week to rehydrate your souls and drink from the springs of Living Water! I leave you with one last thought out of the mouth of my precious son, “Everybody drink water!”

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Allison

Do Not Be Afraid, Only Believe!

Has God been pricking at your heart about a certain area and asking you to take a leap of faith and fully rely on him to guide you? Is there an area that you know God is leading but the fear of the unknown is holding you back? Well, I want to share with you about a leap of faith our family took that God used and continues to use in a mighty way.

I began to think back to the call Matt and I had to adopt. We were completely stunned, to say the least, when we felt God calling us to adoption. We had two great kids already and we were done; or so we thought. For a year we prayed about adopting before making that huge step of faith. Our fears were many but one thing was clear; God called and we had to obey. It was during the paperwork process, that we really studied God’s Word about adoption and what we realized is that how could we fear when God already set the standard for adoption. He adopted us as his children through his Son, Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:5 ”In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will”

He paid the ultimate price for me and for you! From that point, we put our fears aside and knew that somewhere out there was a child that needed a family; a child that God had already predestined to be with us. How exciting that was! I have to be honest when I tell you that there were many times that I, in my human eyes, could not see how this would all work out, but God again would draw me back to him and I would look through his eyes. What a beautiful picture I could see then.

The day Caleb walked into my arms is a day, ordained by God, that I will never forget. How perfectly he fit into my arms, how natural it was to hold him, like he was finally “home”! It was a beautiful moment. As Matt and I talked that night after the kids were asleep, we discussed how we could have missed out on this moment because of our fear. If we had not put our fears aside and put our trust in God we would have missed this precious miracle that was waiting for us in a Chinese orphanage. As I woke the next morning, preparing our final paperwork, I was excited to be officially making Caleb my son in just a few hours. I stood over his bed, in awe of what God had done. I picked up my Bible and devotional book and turned to that day’s message and this is what was there:

Faith Versus Fear

Mark 5:36 "Do not be afraid, only believe."

As we consider the uncertainties of the future, we are confronted with a powerful temptation to play it safe. Unwilling to move mountains, we fret over molehills. Unwilling to entertain great hopes for tomorrow, we focus on the unfairness of today. Unwilling to trust God completely, we take timid half steps when He intends for us to take giant leaps. Ask God today for the courage to step beyond the boundaries of your doubts. Ask Him to guide you to a place where you can realize your full potential – a place where you are freed from the fear of failure. Don’t ask Him to lead you to a safe place; ask Him to lead you to the right place. And remember, those two places are seldom the same.

(Hugs Daily Inspirations for Women)

I thank God that we took that step out of our fear and had faith that God knew what was best for us. That we didn’t give in to the practical but put our trust in God. We now have another precious member of our family because of that trust in God. A precious soul that has now heard the most wonderful name he will ever hear, JESUS! The Name above all names!

This was not intended to be a devotion about adoption, but a devotion about overcoming fears through faith in God. I wanted to share our story of adoption because God used it in a powerful way to show us how fear, overcome by God, provides such sweet results! People tell us all the time how Caleb is so blessed to be here, but dear people, we are the ones that are blessed by him and his sweet spirit. Caleb’s adoption was so much more though! It was not just about adding another child to our family. God used this miracle of adoption to strengthen our trust in him, strengthen our marriage & family, and know the joy of being in the center of his will.

I strongly feel that God is calling us all to a time of true faith! It is time we put all our fears aside and follow him completely. It is then we will see mountains moved!

Focus on Mark 5:36 this week, "Do not be afraid, only believe."

Have a blessed week!

Allison

Seasons of Change

Well it is officially “autumn”! Yes, I know, sometimes the weather still feels a bit to hot for the autumn season, but according to the calendar, fall has come! This is probably my favorite season. I love the cooler temperatures after such blistering hot days and I love to see the colors change. When the weather starts to turn cooler, our family calls in the “snuggle weather”. Well, Ben, my teenager has grown out of the “snuggle weather” but my other 2 kids still love to snuggle and, of course, I love to snuggle with my hubby! I spent the first 9 years of my life growing up in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and I would see the leaves all across the mountains changing from green to a variety of fall colors. Absolutely breathtaking and something I still long to see every year!

When this season rolls around every year, I have to stop and just “awe” at my Savior because he is in control of the seasons and all the colors they behold! He can take that big beautiful tree full of green leaves and turn them into warm shades of brown, gold, and red and bring you to a new appreciation for the beauty of that tree. The same is true of us. Different seasons of our lives bring different colors. We are the same person, but seasons of change in our lives bring about different shades that are all still beautiful, just different. I can look into the eyes of my children and see the seasons of change they are going through. They are still my children, but they are changing just as God intended them to do and they are all still beautiful. It makes me appreciate them even more.

God intends for us to go through seasons of change. They are a time to let the old fall away and bring about colorful new opportunities for us to serve him more. A time for us to grow in Christ! We can have confidence in knowing God allows these changes, but he himself will never change. He is always the same.

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Allow God to take the beautiful leaves of your life and change them into the warm colors of autumn and see how your love for him becomes more vibrant! Experience the changing of seasons in your own life and expect heartfelt worship and deep content in our never-changing God!

Have a blessed weekend!

Allison

Waste Removal

I know you are all looking at this title and thinking, “What in the world is she talking about this for?” Well, I always pray that God will use every opportunity around me to show me something in his Word, something that I need to see at that very moment. I like to call these “teachable moments from my Savior”. That very thing happened one day outside of one of my favorite places…Starbucks! I off work this particular day so I tried to schedule as many things and errands as I could since “free” time is hard to come by. I had my “to do” list in hand and was successfully hopping from errand to errand and found that I had about 45 minutes till my next appointment. It was such a beautiful day that I decided to take those minutes and sit outside of my little coffee house with a cup of delicious coffee and bask in the beautiful sunlight that my Lord had placed in the sky! I picked out a table that was placed where I could see all the beauty around me and enjoy the warm sunshine. It was perfect! As I sat there a few minutes, I began to notice a very unpleasant odor. How could this be? This was my time to enjoy the sunshine and drink my wonderfully brewed cup of coffee but how could I do this with that pungent odor?

About that time I saw a lady pull up in a little golf cart and came over to a trash can nearby. The trashcan was overflowing. Ah! The source of the stench! She pulled the bag out and began sorting through it. (She did have gloves on!) I thought to myself, “How can she do this?” I was starting to feel nauseous for her, but she, with a stronger stomach than me, pulled out all the newspapers and put them in a separate bag and then tied up the rest of the trash. She took the nasty trash out to the cart and came bag with a fresh, clean bag. It already started to smell better out there, but she didn’t stop with a clean bag. She came back over with a cloth and cleaned the outside of the garbage can, emptied the cigarettes out of the top ashtray and when she was done the whole things sparkled. Yes! It sure did! She took something so smelly and disgusting and made it look like a masterpiece, and she did it without flinching. She had pride in what she had done, even knowing that tomorrow she would have to do it all over again.

My Lord showed me again, just how much he loves me. “From a dirty old trashcan he showed you all that?” You ask. Well, He reminded me that I am that dirty old trashcan and he loves me so much that he removed that stinky filth and sin from my life and made me clean again. But he doesn’t stop there; everyday he wipes all the smudges off and makes me shine for him and he does so with great pride evening knowing that he will have to do it all again tomorrow. Why? Because I am his child, his masterpiece. A masterpiece, ready to live for him! He takes great pride in me, in all of us, his children!

Psalm 51:7 “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”

Psalm 32:1 “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.”

May we all be thankful for “waste removal” this week! Were it not for that great sacrifice, we would live a hopeless life. Now we are free to live that beautiful, fragrant life that can bring honor and glory to our Master! My prayer is to share that great sacrifice this week to those in need of a Savior.

Have a blessed week!

Allison