All This Time

     I heard this song on the radio for the first time a week or two ago and had to share it with you! It made me stop and go, "Woah God! You've been walking with me all this time...from the first tear cried til today's sunrise and every single moment between." It reminded me just how far He has carried me. I don't want to think about where I would be without Him. He was with me at my lowest. I'm so so so thankful for His faithfulness. His love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out.

    Sorry to be short, but I have to get started on school work. I'm studying for a math CLEP test and I'm oh so close to being able to go take it! Thank You Jesus!! :-)

    "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all."
                                                                                      ~Psalm 34:18-19

Resting in Him,
Alyssa

P.S. What song is on repeat for you this week?

Healer



Me and my cousin Callie ~ She is one of my sweet Valentines!! I was saying "Awwww!!" in this picture :-)

Happy Valentines Day everyone! I pray your day is filled with reminders of how much you are loved. My family began this Valentines Day by praying for many of our friends who need comfort and healing. There are many friends of ours who are having health struggles right now. My heart is heavy for them. I came across this video last night and it really touched my heart.

Kari Jobe singing "Healer" to a little girl who desperately needs healing.

This reminded me that our sweet Jesus is the ulitmate Healer. He is not only the One who can heal our bodies, but also the One who can heal our hearts. There are also many who I am praying for who need healing in their hearts. I am one of those people. Oh, how I have experienced Jesus as my Healer over these last few months!

He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars
and calls them each by name.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his understanding has no limit.

~Psalm 147:3-5

Nothing is too big for Him. Nothing. That means No. Thing.

Praise Him!
Love,
Alyssa

Small But Big Thoughts...

He is so faithful ~ Even when we are faithless. His love for us never ends!! In Psalm 139 the Bible says that His thoughts toward us are more than the grains of sand. I can't even wrap my mind around that! I was talking to my kiddos in children's church about this last Wednesday. I love hearing their responses to God's Word! I reminded them of the verse where Jesus says that He knows how many hairs are on our heads and then asked how many they thought were there.

 "Fourty thousand!!!" "A million!!" "A BAZILLION!!!"  

Too many to count. Have you ever stopped and really thought about that? Working with kids has made me have to think about things more simply, which has been a blessing in disguise.

David cried out in his prayer: 

“Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord GOD. You have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord GOD! And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord GOD!  Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears."

~2 Samuel 7:18-22

"You know Your servant....Who am I that You have brought me this far??" He knows me... but who am I that the King of Kings would want to know me?? He certainly doesn't need me, but He wants me. What a thought...

"Who am I that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt

Who am I, that the bright and morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are!

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am...
I am YOURS"

Oh Praise Him!!!

Love,
Alyssa <3

All I Need

When the day is done
And there's no one else around
While I'm lying here in bed You're in my heart, You're in my head
You're all I need

There are a million voices calling out my name
But You're the one I want to hear, so make the others disappear
You're all I need, You're all I need

You are all I need when I'm surrounded
You are all I need when I'm by myself
You fill me when I'm empty
There is nothing else
You're all I need

When the morning comes
And Your mercy is renewed
There's a fire in my bones
I'm not afraid to go alone
You're all I need, You're all I need

The sun on my face
I hear You whisper loud
You're still the God that opens seas
Every flower, even me
You're all I need, You're all I need!

You are all I need when I'm surrounded
You are all I need when I'm by myself
You fill me when I'm empty
There is nothing else
You're all I need

I'm drawn to everything that You do
Nothing compares with You

~All I Need by Bethany Dillon

Lord, help me to remember that You are all I need ~ and You are more than enough for me! Nothing can satisfy me like You do.

Let My Lifesong Sing to You!

Photo Credit: http://www.pinterest.com/

    
     This past Sunday in Sunday school, we got to talking about how everything worth doing takes time. Almost all of us in the class play an instrument, so Brother Mike asked us if we learned how to play them overnight. All of us replied with a firm "No!" This got me thinking about the time when I was learning to play the guitar. When I first began, I had to learn the chord shapes, and my fingers had to move in a way they were not used to moving. After learning some chord shapes, I started practicing them a LOT. The steel strings would cut into my tender fingers. The pain would sometimes be almost unbearable! I did not know I was signing up for all this pain when I wanted to learn how to play the guitar! Day after day, I would continue to do the very thing that caused my untrained fingers so much pain. Why did I continue? Because I knew what the outcome would be. I knew it would be beautiful. So I endured.

    I thought on that for a while and suddenly had an "Aha!" moment. Jesus began to press on my heart that this is exactly what He has been doing in my life.

"We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." ~Romans 5:3-5

     See, just because I am a Christian and my Father is the Almighty King of Kings does not mean that my life will be all rainbows and butterflies. There are going to be hard times so that endurance, character, and hope will be produced in my life. Elizabeth Elliot was asked this question one time: "But doesn't God want me to be happy??" She replied with, "No, He wants you to be most holy."

     It isn't about what I want. It isn't about me at all. It is about making much of Him. This is where my greatest joy is found, in making much of my Savior. "In Your presence is the fullness of JOY." ~Psalm 16:11

     I slowly endured the pain of learning to play the guitar and as time passed, the sounds that came out of my guitar were not just broken notes anymore. The sounds that came out made a beautiful, joyful song! It was a song that couldn't have been there without enduring the pain.

     Lord, I want my life song to be beautiful to you. Mold me, make me, and stretch me until my life is a sweet, sweet sound to Your ear.

"I love You, Lord
And I lift my voice
To worship You
O my soul, rejoice!
Take joy, My King, in what You hear,
Let it be, Let it be a sweet, sweet sound
In Your ear."

"Let my lifesong sing to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
I want to sign Your name to the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true
Let my lifesong sing to You" ~ Lifesong by Casting Crowns

So why do we continue? Because we know that God has planned the outcome. We know that it will be most beautiful to Him. So we endure, joyfully! :)

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

Find You On My Knees



Image credit: Google



"Troubles chasing me again
Breaking down my best defense
I´m looking
God I´m looking for You

Weary just won´t let me rest
And fear is filling up my head
I'm longing
God I´m longing for You
But I will

Find You in the place I´m in
Find You when I´m at my end
Find You when there's
Nothing left of me to offer You
Except for brokenness

You lift me up
You never leave me thirsty
When I am weak
When I am lost and searching
I find You on my knees

So what if sorrow shakes my faith
What if heartache still remains
I'll trust You
My God I´ll trust You
Because You are FAITHFUL"


I will find You on my knees. This song has been playing in my heart over and over since Kari Jobe's new CD came out. (It is great by the way, you should check it out! :)

I've learned through difficult trials that these words are SO true. It's when I come to the end of myself that I am closest to Him. It's at that point when I have nothing else to offer except my brokenness that I can almost feel His arms around me. It's when I discover just how weak and frail I am that I can see best how strong and mighty and glorious He is. It's in the darkness that I can best see the light. The valley is the place of vision. 

He is GOOD, even when things don't seem so good. He is the One who is working, even in the darkest places, because "even the darkness is not dark" to Him(Psalm 139:12).

I have experienced those things in the past season of my life, and I am so thankful! He has been working in my stubborn heart, bringing me closer to Him, turning my eyes towards Him, tuning my heart to sing His grace.

I've heard it said before that everyone is either in a storm, coming out of a storm, or going into a storm. I believe that. But I also know that Jesus walks with me through the storm. Most of the time He is carrying me. I'm not on this journey alone. I can't make it to my destination in my own strength! He is a good Father, who teaches His children what they need to learn and "will use no painful remedy that can be avoided." This earth is nothing but a training ground for those who belong to Him.

"[We live in] a fallen world, which must not be a real heaven lest we should love the land we journey though so well as to want to pitch our tents in it forever and cease to look and long for the home whither we are bound." ~ Elisabeth Prentiss

"Count it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." ~James 1:2-4

So as Elisabeth Prentiss put it in her journal years ago, we are on a journey of "stepping heavenward," and this journey is uphill. But it a journey filled with the joy of knowing Him! He is all I need. He brings beauty from the worst situations. The same God who walks me through the valley is the same God who stands with me on the mountain! The same God who paints the sunsets and rainbows! Thank You Lord! You are a good Father and I trust You.

Passion 2012 (Glimpses of Eternity)

Hey y'all! A few weeks ago, I had the privilege to go to Passion 2012 in Atlanta. Louie Giglio headed it up. He had some great men of God preaching as well. I am so thankful God worked it out for me to go! I almost thought I wasn't going to get to after several plans fell through, but He is faithful and provided a way. :)

There were soooo many great lessons learned that week! I think the thing that will stick with me most though is the 27 million people who are in slavery around the world. Slavery is prevailing now more than ever ~ even more than during the African slave trade. One of the biggest and most disgusting forms of slavery is sex trafficking. Women, little girls, little boys, and even men are being used and sold against their will. And you know what almost took my breath away? Atlanta, Georgia is the main sex trafficking site in the world. IN THE WORLD! Wow. That shocked me. So what do we do? God calls His children to be kind and to do justice:

"He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?"

~Micah 6:8

So we have to be their voice, because if we don't....then who will? So 45,000 college students came to Atlanta prepared to do something big about it. By the end of our 4 days together, we gave 3 million dollars towards the cause of slavery! YES! Praise the Lord! We had to stand in line to give, and after we gave, we were directed out to the International Plaza. There were stations set up filled with things that represent people in slavery. The station included little girls dresses, shoes, balls, Christmas decorations (one of the things made by people in slavery) etc. We got to decide which item we would like to write a prayer on for them. I chose a little girl's dress. It breaks my heart that girls as young as five years old have to go through something like sex trafficking. Here is my dress:

The things that we wrote our prayers on were used to make a huge piece of art ~ Something that would stand so high and shine so bright that it would make a statement to Atlanta. We are being His hands. 

Then, on the last night, we had a candlelight vigil for those enslaved. We walked silently from our community groups to the international plaza, where the giant hand stood representing freedom. At 12 AM, candles began to be lit. Slowly, the whole international plaza was illuminated, and the hand was lit! Screams of freedom and songs began being sung. "We'll be a city on a hill, burning brightly. We'll be a light to the world, shining Your glory."

 Another amazing experience at Passion was the music. Every time we came together, we sang songs of surrender, like "We raise our white flags, we surrender all to You ALL for You! We raise our white flags, the war is over LOVE has come, Your love has won!" There were times when we all would be singing out acapella, 45 thousand voices strong, heads back, eyes heavenward, hands lifted. Completely surrendered. The only thing I can compare it to is Heaven. That is what I think Heaven will be like. Lots and lots of people, God's people, singing to Him, worshiping Him with all they have! The KING will be in our midst in Heaven though, and I can only imagine what I will do.

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel? Will I dance for You Jesus? Or in awe of You be still? Will I stand in Your presence? Or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing hallelujah? Will I be able to speak at all? I. Can. Only. Imagine....

Thank You Lord for precious times with You at Passion. Thank You for reminding me to surrender all. You are worth my all, and way more than I could ever give. And yet You love me still. You are my greatest JOY! I love You!

The sweet group I went with. :) I am second from the right.

I hope you have a great week filled with getting knowing Him more.

Love Always,

Alyssa

Psalm 37:4

John 3:30