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AlliMcV
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Name: Allison
Location: St. Louis, United States
Gender: Female
Interests: Coffee. Adventures in Odyssey. Tea. Friends. Beaches. Journals with no lines. Rainy days. Hot chocolate with marshmallows. All things pink. Down blankets. Cute dogs. Secret handshakes. Hoodies. Inside jokes. Being artistic/creative. Thrift stores. Spring. California. Bonfires. Diet Coke. Sunsets. Scripture. Crushed Ice. Complicated coffee drink orders. Eskimo kisses. PJs. Windows down, music up. Hymns. Road trips. Shopping. Girl's night. Coffee dates. Sweetart hearts. Singin' in the shower. Latte Art. Sunglasses. JOE'S. God's Grace.
Expertise: Umm, all things pink and coffee!
Occupation: Student
Message: message meEmail: email me
AIM:  AlliLMcV
Member Since:
3/25/2006
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So... the coolest thing
happened today!
I was out running errands for my boss... The usual. Picking up/dropping off dry
cleaning, a few groceries and picking up bouquets of flowers. In between dry
cleaning and flowers I dropped in at my favorite coffee shop here in St Louis, Kaldi's Coffee for some caffeine and quiet time.
I have been doing this amazing new Bible study, entitled Set My People Free by
Jannie Wilcoxson- amazing! Here I am with my bottomless cup of coffee and just
being able to soak up Scripture- Perfect! I had a lot weighing on my mind and
was able to have an incredible heart to heart with my dear Father- Priceless!
When I left, I swear I was 5 pounds lighter just because I was able to transfer
the burdens I was clenching so tightly onto the One who is big enough for those
concerns. Funny how I know that is always the result and yet I always wait too
long to relinquish what is not mine to carry anyway. (side note, I was at a
Bible conference recently and Kay Arthur was talking about how Jesus constantly
likens us to sheep. She pointed out that sheep are not burden-bearing animals-
go figure)
So, here I am walking through Sam's Club, wandering actually, with 3 big
bouquets of flowers. I stumble across a little setup and a nice young man asks
me if he can put some dead sea mud on my hand. Sure, why not?! He told me,
"no pressure to buy." I replied, "Good, I am a poor college
student paying my way through school."
While he is rubbing this mud on my hand, waiting, wiping it off, showing me the
difference between each hand he starts asking me about where I go to school,
what I want to do and why I chose Moody. Those of you Moody Students, don't you
just love how just by telling people we go to Moody Bible
Institute, it's an instant opportunity to get to share the hope that we have.
So, through a 20 minute conversation, I got to do just that, share the hope
that I have. The best part was that any of the words coming out of my mouth
were not my own, but from the Lord- He is so good! It was so encouraging to
have just been filled and then given the chance to "overflow" on this
unsuspecting vendor!
It ended with me reluctantly telling him I needed to get going, but I gave him
my number and invited/tried to convince him to go to my church, Windsor
Crossing (which is absolutely amazing, by the way!).
His name is Isaac and if you think about it, would you pray that the Holy
Spirit would not allow him to quickly forget our conversation. Oh, how I pray
that somehow the Lord could use some of the truth shared to captivate his heart
and draw him into relationship with the One who made and loves him so dearly!
I have just been so encouraged that the Lord would allow even me to share with
this man in Sam's Club, of all places! How I pray that I would only continue to
seek more opportunities to share about my Redeemer! Wow, He is so awesome,
good, faithful, gracious, merciful... How can we choose to not
"overflow"?!
I love you all! Thanks for taking the time to read. Double thanks if you choose
to pray for Isaac!
Praying for me (especially) and all ya'll- that we would be so captivated by
WHO God is and be nothing but contagious for Him as the result!
In His All Sufficient GRACE,
alli
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| So... I have been enjoying every second of being here in the amazing city of Chicago! Enjoying my apartment! Enjoying the amazing women I live with. Enjoying the friends staying here in the city. Enjoying my job--- well, not enjoying my job.
Let me try to be gracious about the job situation. Let's just say that I am being asked much more than I agreed to do and I am being taken advantage of. It's been such a good experience though. I have never felt more desperate for the Lord. Unless I draw on Him for all of the grace/patience/strength required to be a nanny/maid/tutor/now piano teacher/whatever else they can come up with for me to do w/o compensation, I would not make it through the day.
The Lord has been so good to provide me with a nanny job to make the amount of money I need to return to school next semester. He is so faithful to provide. It has been a constant struggle to have a good attitude about going to work, but this situation did not surprize God one bit and I have already seen how He has used it to teach/grow/break me so much!
Not only has the Lord been faithful to provide income, He has been so good to "deliver" me from this situation and give me a GIFT of a job. I will be working as a "house manager" in some mansion for a Christian multi-millionaire. The hourly rate is considerably higher, the work load is much lighter and the employer is much more reasonable. This job also is located back home in St. Louis.
Goodbye Chicago, goodbye apartment, goodbye Chicago friends...
It's bittersweet. Sad to leave, but so excited because this gift has come from the Lord. He has been so abundantly GOOD to me. Not that I am shocked, He always has, always is, always will be.
Lately the Lord has been removing many things from my life... too much to go into right now. He is taking things from me so that I may only more tightly cling to Him. It's not a comfortable/easy process, but I would not have it any other way. Refinement is painful, but the results are priceless!
This chorus has been the theme (or one of the themes) of the past two weeks.
Jesus, Jesus, How I trust Him
How I've proved Him o'er and o'er.
Jesus, Jesus, Precious Jesus,
Oh for GRACE to trust Him more!
So, friends in St. Louis, can't wait to see you! It's been tooooo long!
Friends in Chi, I will miss you dearly and look forward to seeing you in less than 3 months!
God is so good all the time! Don't you just L O V E Him?! | | |
| Good is good
I am not
God knows best
I know not
God is in control
I am not, (as much as I think I want to be)
God knows what this summer holds
I don't know what to do/where to go
God knows my desires
I am so uncertain
God knows what tomorrow holds
I am anxious
God is Sovereign
I choose to trust Him through both interviews, through possible
jobs, through summer plans, through family situations, through
relationship fears, etc.
God is Good, Faithful, Merciful, Constant, Daddy...
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There is something that I seem to be learning over and over again, but
I still seem to be surprized every time I am faced with it ... So often
striving in a way to please God and seek His best in my life I find
that the best thing is nearly always the hardest thing to do. His best
for me can mean loneliness, confrontation, waiting, you name it.
What a privilege it is to serve a God that I can't
understand! What an adventure to seek His will that I can't see! What
an honor to worship a God who is way too huge for me to wrap my feeble
mind around.
Isaiah 55:8-9
For My thoughts are not Alli's
thoughts, neither are Alli's ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than
Alli's ways and My thoughts than Alli's thoughts.
That's it and that's all for now.
In His All Sufficient Grace
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Just a lil' pic of my bro and I being ridiculous (as usual) at Applebee's
So... Xanga is probably the very last thing that I need right now to take up my time, but oh well... I could not resist.
Heading back to school tomorrow. As wonderful as spring break has been
I am just so excited to get back to the city, to Joe's, to a regular
schedule, to my beautiful friends... I am ready to finish this semester
well, Lord willing!
This break has had ups and downs. Excitements and disappointments.
Through it all I learn so much more about myself and hopefully gain a
better understanding of others. The Lord has been so good to me this
break showing me my ugly shortcomings- Isn't it amazing that He still
loves me?! He is so faithful and has provided me with a full time job
at Starbucks this summer! I may or may not make enough to go back to
MBI, but I am trusting that the Lord can and will make a way if that is
the best place for me to be.
I wish I had some exciting news to write about... Just the ramblings of
me :) Stay tuned, something interesting will show up sooner or later!
In His Peace...
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