Confession...

They say that confession is good for the soul. Well, here I go.

I am scared.

There, I said it. Don't I feel better now? Nope, can't say that I do.

What am I scared of you ask.

My beautiful Songbird has been quite anxious this year. To the point of developing an eating disorder. It's not full blown, but its there. I want to sit & beat myself up and blame myself for this turn of events. Why? Well, I have an eating disorder. Surely I've been a terrible example for her and she is only mimicking what she sees.

NOT!

I need to stop blaming myself. There is no blame. Besides, what good does blame do? It's not going to make the situation any easier. In fact, it'll only hinder MY progress.

I need to turn this over to God. We all know how well I do that. It's not that I don't turn things over to Him. I do. But I've struggled with turning my own eating disorder over to Him. Now I'm struggling turning HER eating disorder over to Him.

We've gotten her help. Just when we were getting a glimpse of this, we decided to find help. Of course, its slow going for my liking, but I need to remember that God is in control. He lead us.

This is a battle... plain & simple. Satan is trying to take hold of my daughter's life in order to make me weak. What's the best way to weaken a Mama? Attack her child. Though in the wild, a Mama usually becomes ferocious.

That's what I need to do. I need to be ferocious in my prayers! Not just for my precious Songbird, but for Slugger too. Puberty is just around the corner for him & there will be trials to go along with it.

My prayer life isn't consistent. That's an area where I falter. I need to be diligent with my prayers. Not just for my kids, but myself & my marriage. I need to bathe my family in prayers each day.

So, there's my confession... You know, I do feel better.

Many blessings,
Allison

Psalm 23 revisited

I love the Bible... I love reading it. Historical stories, love letters, letters to the early churches, poems. It's a compilation of so many different types of writing, all God breathed.

Psalms are some of my favorites. Raw emotions & adoration to an all-powerful, all-loving God.

Psalm 23 is probably one of the most recognized Psalm in the world. You don't have to be a Christian or even a religious believer to know it. It is often read at funerals:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

However, this Sunday my view of that Psalm will forever be changed. It isn't about death at all... it's about life. About God's promises.

I won't do the sermon justice, so I encourage you to listen to it yourself. Head over to North Point Messages and listen to 'PROMISES'. Justin Grunewald dissects the Psalm and delivers it layman's terms that will really open your eyes.

What it all boils down to is this: God gives us promises. He wants to give us our heart's desire. He longs to have a relationship with us & provide for us. Psalm 23 is just a glimpse of His promises for us. Yet there is something that WE have to do.... for God to work those promises WE need to accept Him. The very first sentence is key!!!

The Lord is MY shepherd.

To many, He is THE shepherd, but He wants to be MY shepherd. Once He becomes my shepherd, he fulfills those promises.

Many blessings,
Allison

Hidden blessings

I hate the way my mind works sometime. I often wonder if God is using me in my every day life. I just live. I don't feel as though I go out of my way to do anything special. I'm just me. Because I don't have a super important job, am I really making a difference in this world.

Then God does something to gently (or sometimes not so gently) to remind me that He is in control and He is using me and my abilities. I don't need to be in a position of importance in order to make an impact on this world. I just need to be a light of God's love.

Thank you God for your reminder today. Some days I'm just too self-absorbed to hear your reminders. I'm blessed beyond measure.

Many blessings,
Allison

Missing teen - FOUND

UPDATE: THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR THOUGHTS & PRAYERS. I AM HAPPY TO REPORT THAT KELLY HAS BEEN FOUND & IS SAFE. BECAUSE OF AN ONGOING INVESTIGATION, THE FAMILY IS UNABLE TO TALK ABOUT THE DETAILS.

THANKS ONCE AGAIN FOR SPREADING THE WORD!!!

Many blessings,
Allison


Please take a good look at this young woman.

Kelly Zapp, a high school senior here in Forsyth County, has volunteered at my church over the last three years, and her parents, Cliff and Celeste, are also volunteers. Kelly has been missing since Wednesday, 9/27.

Please take a moment to pass this information on to help increase awareness within Forsyth and the surrounding counties. More importantly, please be praying for the Zapp family during this time.