The Beautiful Bond of Sisters

“Mom, she’s touching me”, “Mom, tell her to get out of my room”. Well, these were a couple of the phrases that came out of our mouths as four sisters growing up together! If you have siblings you know exactly what I am talking about here! Ha-ha! I was the youngest in a family of five children with three sisters that were 4, 6, and 8 years older than me. Growing up I always admired my sisters. They were beautiful and so cool, but we weren’t best friends. I guess with the age difference they were in college or married by the time I started high school and we didn’t have a lot in common. We definitely had some crazy times in our home!

When I look at the relationship I have with my sisters now, it just warms my heart! God has truly blessed me with the most beautiful sisters inside and out! I just came back from a wonderful trip with two of my sisters and we had a great time laughing and cutting up together. To have that time away from the every day stresses and enjoy being together was such a priceless gift (throw some shopping in there and you can't go wrong, lol!)! I couldn’t help but think of how blessed I am to have them in my life. The older we get, the closer we become. My sisters, all three of them, have become the best friends I have ever had! Though God has taken us to many different places and paths, our bond remains so strong. I look at each one of my beautiful sisters and see their love of our God and the wonderful mothers they are and my soul is touched. I know that any second of the day I can call them up and they will be there for me. More importantly I know that my sisters are lifting me up in prayer and that is the best gift they could ever give me.

We have seen each other through a lot over the years. The loss of a child, cancer, parenting struggles, family moves, and many other obstacles, but we have stood by each other through it all. There have been many tears shed and lots of laughter shared but the times we talk about what God is doing in our lives and pray together are the most precious times of all. God is doing a mighty work in each of us and our lives are for his glory alone!

I am so thankful for these beautiful women in my life!

Amy, Stephanie, and Leslie, you inspire me! Thank you for being such godly examples in my life and encouraging me to remain obedient in the paths that God is leading me. I am honored to be your sister and your friend. I love you all!

Proverbs 31:29 “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”

~ Loyalty to Our Master ~

I think I have one of the craziest dogs alive! Louie, our Golden Retriever, is truly “one-of-a-kind”! Right after we moved back from our time in Florida, Ben and Callie were begging for a dog. We had a great big, fenced in, back yard now and they were dying for a “four-legged friend” to run around with. I am not a huge animal lover, but I do like dogs. Having animals is a huge responsibility and of course most of that responsibility rests on mom’s shoulders. After much begging and pleading on their part, Matt and I gave in and decided to get a dog. Then we had to make a decision on what kind of dog to get, big or small. I, of course, was all for a small dog but everyone else didn’t care, they just wanted a dog.

One of Matt’s co-workers at the time lived in Greenville, SC and had a 4-month-old Golden Retriever puppy that he was training. He was struggling because he and his wife both travelled so much and were leaving their little puppy at the kennel quite a bit. They decided to find a family that would love on this dog and make them part of their family. Well, guess which family that was? Lol! They drove up from Greenville and let us meet “Louie” and the kids fell in love with him instantly. He was not a little, tiny, puppy. At 4-months-old he was already bigger than Callie! But he was super sweet and already trained very nicely, which I was excited about! So there we were, dog owners! Over the last 5 ½ years that Louie has been part of our family, he has really proved to be a “one-of-a-kind”!

It is funny how I am not the one that really wanted a dog, but he sure does stay right at my feet. Matt calls me the “Dog Whisperer”! lol! Louie follows me around and even sleeps right on my bathroom floor or at my bedside. One of the funniest things Louie does, is that he will not eat his food unless someone is in the kitchen with him as he eats. It doesn’t matter how long it has been since he has eaten, he will not stay in there by himself. I try to sneak out of the room but he will just follow me out and leave the food he was just feasting on. Crazy! That really shows what a loyal dog he is. Even now as I type, he is sitting at my feet on the front porch.

I began to think of our loyalty to our Master. Are we so loyal and in love with our Master that we long to be at his feet? Do we need him there as we feast on everyday life no matter how bad we want something? Do we overlook how busy we are or how distracted we are and just sit at Jesus’ feet?

The story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10 is another one of my favorite “teachable moments”. Wow! You have Martha busy in the kitchen trying to be the “hostess with the most-ess” and then there is Mary, I can just picture it now, sitting right at Jesus’ feet grasping at every word that comes out of his mouth. Why? Because she knew this was her Master and the preparations could wait. What he had to say and being in his presence was exactly where she needed to be at that moment. There is power at the feet of our Master! I get a little tickled when I think about Martha running around getting everything together probably just a grumbling under her breath that she is doing all the work and Mary is just sitting there being lazy. Ha-ha!

Finally, she had enough and went to Jesus and said in verse 40,“Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

I love it! Growing up in a house with three sisters, there were a lot of those statements to our parents! Lol! Martha’s intentions were to have everything in order, but Mary’s intentions were for the soul. She was so loyal and in love with her Master that it didn’t matter to her what else was going on, she was grasping the moment of being in his presence. I love what Jesus response was to Martha in verses 41 and 42. “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Mary has chosen what is better! In this day and age of being so extremely busy, God has really shown me to slow down and sit at his feet. This has been a hard thing for me because my life, especially over the last five or six years, has been a whirlwind of busyness. But when you sit at your Master’s feet and listen intently to what he is trying to tell you, you realize that there is no better place to be! It caused a lot of soul-searching about priorities and reevaluating where I needed to be and what I needed to be doing. My life is for my Master! Listening, obeying, and allowing him to remove things in my life has been a, sometimes painful, but, necessary part of growing in him. We all have areas in our lives that are taking away time from sitting at our Master’s feet. The question is, are you going to allow God to remove the areas that need to be removed, as painful as that can be, or are you going tell God that you are too busy and these things can’t be removed? Are you going to be a Martha, (“But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.” Luke 10:42) or are you going to be a Mary? (“Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.” Luke 10:39) These are questions that I have had to confront in my own life and feel as though many need to be asking themselves the same questions. Dig deep and be honest about what your real priorities are. That is where it begins!

I think we can all learn a thing or two from our furry little friends and their loyalties to their masters, but the bigger lesson comes from dying to self (Luke 9:23,“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”) and putting our Master and his desires in the forefront of our lives!

Lord, what an honor and a privilege to sit at your feet! As I listen and cast all the distractions of everyday life aside, your voice is what I long for. Just being in your presence is the fuel I need to continue the work you have begun in my life. My desire is to continually sit at your feet as you guide and direct me through this beautiful journey of life. May I always be ready and prepared to obey your will as you pour out your Spirit on me. Lord, give me the strength to resist temptation as unnecessary busyness begins to creep in and follow the example of Mary as she was at total peace at your precious feet. My loyalty is to my Master, my Savior, because you are the Giver of Life!

Your Child,

Allison

~ Where's My Burning Bush? ~

Riding to school in the mornings with my kids is such a special time! We love to sing and dance in the car (okay, there is no law that says we can’t dance in the car, only text! lol!) and we love talking. There are some precious moments during that twenty-minute drive to school. Caleb loves for me to tell him the story about us going to China to bring him home. Many times he asks me, “Tell me the story again, mommy!” A couple of weeks ago on the way to school, Caleb sat quietly in the back seat and then a few miles down I-40, he spoke up and said, “Mommy, how did God tell you to come and get me in China?” His little mind was just a-goin’! We have always shared with him that God told us that we had a child in China and that he led us straight to him to bring him home. Well, in the mind of a 7-year-old, he wondered how God told us that.

“God told us in our hearts.”, was my reply to him. I was able to share with him, on his level, that God speaks to us through reading his Word and praying. It is during that special time with God that he speaks to us. No, his voice was not audible, but it was very definitive in our hearts!

I think a lot of us would love for God to just speak out loud or send us that “burning bush” so we could know without a shadow of a doubt what his will is for our lives. During my quiet time with the Lord this past week, I was reading the story of Moses and the burning bush. Oh, how I love this story from Exodus! Here you have Moses who has left the life of Egyptian prince and is now a lowly shepherd in Midian. What a difference, huh? From royalty to rags, but what a life-changing event is taking place! God is beginning to mold and shape him into the leader that will free the Israelites from Pharaoh’s strong grasp.

I can just see this all go down! Here is Moses out with his flock and heads over to Mount Horeb (Mount Sinai) where he sees this bush on fire but is not actually burning up. He walks over to the bush, a little bewildered, and then he hears the voice of God say, “Moses, Moses!” I’m sure he is a little startled here, but he speaks up and says, “Here I am.” As you go through the passage of scripture here in Exodus 3, you see this conversation between Moses and God. The first thing Moses does is take off his sandals because he is standing on holy ground. What an act of reverence to his God! God then begins to tell Moses of his plan to send him to go before Pharaoh to flee the Israelites. What does Moses do next? Exodus 3:11 “But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He expresses to God his inadequacies. How many times do we hear God speak to us but we tell God how inadequate we are? I know in my own life, I have done that many times. That is because we are inadequate all by ourselves, but when God calls us to a task, he will equip us to carry out his work! Praise God!

I love how God answers Moses in verse 12. “I will be with you.” What precious reassurance from Almighty God! As Moses continues to talk with God about his fears, I see this same thing in the way I feel a lot of times as God calls me to certain tasks in my life. He was so reluctant to go but God in each of area kept reassuring Moses that he would be with him. Even in chapter 4, verse 13, when Moses begged God, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.” I know those exact words have come out of my mouth during a conversation with God too. God provided Moses with everything he needed to carry out his plan. The one verse that just brings total peace over me is chapter 3, verse 14, when Moses asks God who he should tell the Israelites that sent him and God replies, “I AM WHO I AM.”

We can look at this and say, “Well, Moses got to hear God speak audibly to him. I don’t know what God is telling me.” There are many accounts in scripture that show people sensing the Holy Spirit’s leading in their lives. I think of Paul as the Holy Spirit kept him and his companions from entering Asia to preach the word.

Acts 16:6 “Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.”

We don’t know how the Holy Spirit led them to this. Was it inner-conviction or a vision? We don’t know. But what we do know is that the Holy Spirit is real and was given to Christians at Pentecost recorded in Acts. Even Moses recorded in Numbers 11:29 how he was looking forward to the day that all God’s people would experience the pouring out of God’s Spirit. But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!”

The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to know God’s will for our lives. This is done as we engross ourselves in God’s Word and keep the communication with our Lord through prayer. What a priceless gift!

2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

God gave us his Word to equip us! Many times we seek our own plans before we go to our Father for direction and guidance. When God called Matt and me to adoption, I can tell you there were many conversations with God that expressed our inadequacies and fear of the unknown road. We gave God lots of different reasons that it would be too hard, too costly, too scary, etc., but as we dove heart and head into his Word and spent that time talking to him, his Spirit overwhelmed our hearts that this was HIS plan, not ours, and it was to be followed.

Yes, we all want the “burning bush” when it comes to getting an answer of God’s will in our lives. But God has given us so much more. We have his Word and the ability to come before Almighty God any time and any place to seek and know. Hallelujah! God is at work dear friends! Allow God to reveal his will to you through his Word and his Spirit and let him mold and shape you for the great things in store!

Dear Abba Father, my desire is to do your will no matter the cost. Lord, never let me grow complacent in my life that I oversee your plan. May I wake up each morning and give you first attention so that your plans become my plans and your will be done! I never want to give in to the practical. I want to grow which means that my comfort zone will be shaken and tested in ways that may be uncomfortable but oh, so necessary to continue the work ahead. My life is yours, Lord, and I desire a life, not of popularity or prestige, but of true peace in the center of your will. I love you sweet Father!

Your child,

Allison

~ Sweet Summertime ~

This is our first official day of summer! Yes, I know that on the calendar summer doesn’t begin until June 21^st but school is out for my kids and my preschool office hours are scaled back too! Oh how I love summertime! Probably more this summer than in a long time! This summer, for me, is all about the ministry of family! God began dealing with me last fall about those precious gifts right in front of me that need more of my attention. Those gifts are my wonderful husband, my 3 awesome kiddos, and my beautiful sisters! Over this last school year, my time with the Lord has really become so sweet. I crave it! I can’t wait until my next time alone with him! It really is awesome to spend that time with my Lord! During those times he has shown me that there is so much he wants me to do! Time for some physical, spiritual & emotional nourishment and so much more of his glory that he wants me to encounter!

I cannot imagine my life without those intimate times with my Jesus! Wow! It is like eating, drinking, and sleeping. These are necessities to function physically, but my time with God is necessary for me to function spiritually (and physically too)! When you come to God and bare your soul before him and lay everything out on the table, it becomes a time of healing and growth! That is exactly where I want to be! Right at the feet of my Master giving him all the praise and glory he is so worthy of and allowing him to guide and direct me in this journey of life!

Don’t you just love how his Word permeates your soul? God already knows our hearts, so there is such comfort in being so open and honest before him and allowing his Word to heal and guide through the beautiful pathway of life. If you don’t crave that time with God, then you don’t spend enough time with him. Only speaking from experience here! There have been times in my life when my intimate time with God was good, but there was not a deep longing to be there in that place with him. The more I dove into his Word and spent more time fellowshipping with him, then the more I craved it! I think that is true with a lot of things in our lives. Those things that we spend a lot of time on become the things that we crave when we are away from them. What better craving could you have than that of Almighty God!

Psalm 119:18-20 “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. I am a stranger on earth; do not hide your commands from me. My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.”

So, today I officially begin my summer with such excitement for all that God has in store! I’m excited to grow more in my walk with him through time in his Word, I’m excited to spend those precious moments with the 3 best kids in the world, I’m excited for my “girl getaway” with my beautiful sisters, I’m excited for our China family reunion in Disney World, I’m excited for cheer camp with those awesome cheerleaders, and I’m excited to devote more of my attention to being the wife to the most wonderful husband in the world!

Great things happen when you stay open to God’s will in your life! I encourage you to spend more time with your Creator! The more time you spend with him, the more you fall deeper in love with him and experience that abundant life that he has promised!

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

John 10:10

Have a beautiful week in the Lord and as your summer begins, make sure God is your first priority and enjoy the blessings of his full and abundant life!

Allison