Sweet Moments with Aiden

Listening to Aiden giggle while running up and down the levees' with him and Annie, our dog.

Listening to him remembering a time being out at the lake with Paw-Paw.

Listening to him imagining catching a 'cruise' (ship) with his fishing pole.

Seeing him have fun inspite of not catching any fish!

Enjoying the sound of the waves, the sea gulls, and the feel of the wind with one of the cutest kids I know.

Happy 2012!

"God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible. What a pity when we plan only the things we can do by ourselves." A.W. Tozer

This quote struck me over the holiday break and I thought it would be a good one to try and live by this year. So I have it posted on my fridge and have been 'chewing' on it a bit.
We so often, unintentionally even, put God in a box. We make desicions, or choose not to make desicions based on fear. We limit His power and might.

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more then ALL we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever"

Its not even when we ask that He so incredibly chooses to 'show up', He 'shows up' in ways that we cannot imagine!! I want to know Him and trust Him more. I want to thrive in life, not just survive in life. I want to be used by Him, not just attempt to do things in my own strength.

And the journey continues.....

Happy New Year!!!

The Big Day

Alf and I checked the weather yesterday morning and it did not look good. The hourly forecast showed 80% chance of rain at the time we would be outside for the burial.

Throughout the morning I looked outside and saw rain coming down in sheets. I stressed over what we would do, and stressed over all who were driving in from Slidell, Baton Rouge, Mandeville, Covington, etc.

The service was beautiful, and it was time to go to the burial. I climbed in the van, turned toward the back to talk to the boys and I saw behind us a beautiful rainbow in the sky. A rainbow! THEN we drive off and the skies had cleared up!! It was windy and chilly, but very few raindrops. In fact, the sun even peeked out a little while standing outside!!! We were blessed with the 20% and He even threw in a rainbow :) It was so awesome, absolutely awesome! God is awesome!

Experiencing the death of my dad has reminded me that I am NOT the writer of this script:) Sure, there are days that I wish I could write the script. And there are other days when I think, "I could not write the script any better.'

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Fear the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing. -- Psalm 34:7-9

Thanks to all of you (both near and far) for your love and support at this time. Hoping it is a beautiful Christmas for everyone!

Allison

A Time to Say Goodbye

Dear family and friends,

Sunday morning, December 18th, Alf and I got a call that my dad was on the floor of a grocery store unconscious. We got to the emergency room and shortly thereafter, were told that they had tried for nearly an hour to resuscitate him, but he was dead. Having had a triple bypass only two years ago, this was not supposed to happen so soon.

He was 77, so we are grateful for the long life that he did have, but you're never ready for something like this. We are trusting in God, knowing he is good, and we are thrilled to serve a God where we can confidently say that he is in heaven....maybe even dancing with my mom :).

We would appreciate your continued prayer as we work through all the emotions that take place when something like this happens so suddenly.

We have made plans for the funeral to be on Thursday, December 22nd at Lake Lawn in Metairie (right off the interstate). Visitation will start at 10 and a service will take place at 12. If you are able to, we would enjoy having you. We desire for the time to be a celebration of his life, not simply a mourning of his death.

Thank you -

Allison Nelson

TRUST

I comment to a man that God has given me a heart for, 'I am nudging you a bit' and he says don't nudge....push....shove.

And I look at God and think, 'WOW! you have called me to do this??!! Can I?'

There is a side of me that wants to run and give up. Take the 'easier' route. There is another side of me that wants to be all in. There is excitement, anticipation, hope....but I'm scared.

I wrestle with God - how do I push him? What does he know? Where does he desire you to take him? Am I doing enough? Am I doing to much? Am I going to screw up? Is he going to give up?

I ask the man, with hesitation and strength from God (and ready for rejection), if he would want to do breakfast with my husband and I. He was quick to say yes and said that it sounded great!

I ask God, are you really going to give me words to say what he needs to hear? How much am I going to hear of this guys life this morning? Is it going to be enough for me? Am I going to be ok with where this goes? I cry out, HELP me not to make this about me and my personal gain! Help me to make it all about you. It is all about you and your glory.

A couple years ago, as we were beginning this journey back home, I memorized the verse -Psalm 40: 1-3. At the end of verse three it says, ' many will see and fear and put there trust in the Lord.' I was eager to see who those many were. And how I would get to play a part in that.

I just need to trust.

TRUST. (sigh) TRUST.

Not walk away in fear that it wont go the way I want it to go.

Walk forward in faith and courage and in Spirit.....and then watch what the Lord does.

And my loving Saviour reminds me what its all about.....its all about HIM.

Being put in a place that is requiring me to trust HIM so, has made me draw nearer to Him and want to get to know Him more. Why trust you?? Who are you, really??

I think yesterday on a walk how we only have a glimpse of who God is, but that glimpse is enough to want to bow down and worship.

I read in A.Voskamps blog this - We may not know the outcome but we tenaciously believe that in Him we overcome - because Love comes down.

What a privilege it is......I have to go get ready for a breakfast now:)

Captivating

This is taken from the book, CAPTIVATING Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul. These are great words that spoke to me and where I am in my faith journey.

"Unveiling our beauty really just means unveiling our feminine hearts.
It's scary, for sure. That is why it is our greatest expression of faith, because we are going to have to trust Jesus - really trust Him. We'll have to trust him that we HAVE a beauty, that what he has said of us is true. And we'll have to trust Him with how it goes when we offer it, because that is out of our control. We'll have to trust him when it hurts, and we'll have to trust him when we are finally seen and enjoyed. That's why unveiling our beauty is how we live by faith.
Unveiling our beauty is our greatest expression of HOPE. We hope that it will matter, that our beauty really does make a difference. We hope that there is a greater and higher Beauty, hope we are reflecting that Beauty, and hope it will triumph. Our hope is that all is well because of Jesus and that all will be well because of him. So we unveil beauty in hope. And finally, we unveil beauty in the hope that Jesus is growing our beauty. Yes, we are not yet what we long to be. But we are underway. Restoration has begun. To offer beauty now is an expression of hope that it will be completed.
And unveiling beauty is our greatest expression of love, because it is what the world most needs from us. When we choose not to hide, when we choose to offer our hearts, we are choosing to love. Jesus offers; he invites, he is present. That is how he loves. That is how we love - sincerely, as the Scriptures says, 'from the heart' (1Pt 1:22). Our focus shifts from self-protection to the hearts of others. We offer Beauty so that their hearts might come alive, be healed, know God. That is love."

If you Give a Mouse a Cookie.....

Yesterday I spent most of the day around the house and thought a lot about the book, If you Give a Mouse a Cookie. I was feeling that that was becoming my day.....

If I start cleaning my house,
I will load the wash with dirty laundry,
I will then begin to clean the back bathroom,
then will see areas that need touched up painting,
then I will get the ladder and paint from the garage,
then I will discover after painting that the bathroom needed wiped down again,
then I notice the time and realize the laundry has been waiting for quite some time to be removed from the wash into the dryer,
when I fold some of my boys laundry and bring them to there proper drawers,
I start to remove clothes that don't fit and put them into a goodwill pile,
I will also observe that this cleaning house day still needs to be accomplished and I have very little time till I have to pick up kids! Ugh!