C'mon Allie, Where Ya Been?

For those of you who followed reading the title to this post with ""troubles on the loose again" to the tune of the 1980s Scooby Doo intro I applaud you because that's definitely what I was going for.

Its been quite a while indeed since the last blog update, but two weeks and six non-texas states(Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Kansas, Oklahoma) later here I am to greet you all once again! My family is huge on road-trips so this time around we took a journey through the Mid-West of the United states. Now now I know the mid-west is not known for its glam and excitement, but it was actually a pretty swell trip! Here's a quick highlight reel of the places I visited:

• Indianapolis, Indiana: Driving up to Indianapolis I wasn't very pumped. I mean what does it have besides race cars and cold weather, right? Wrong. Guys Indianapolis was cool. Really cool. I would seriously consider living there if it weren't for frigid winter-time temperatures. The downtown has such a great atmosphere and there is the canal district that is absolutely beautiful. Plus there were girl scouts who gave me ice cream sundaes and I had an almost-encounter with the Jo Bros(I know, way middle school throwback).

  

  War Memorial in the middle of Downtown

• Louisville, Kentucky: Louisville was grand because I got to see my Aunt and cousins that live there. They live in a beautiful historic neighborhood there. We also went to the Muhammad Ali Museum. I don't identify myself as a boxing fan at all, but this museum was actually pretty cool because it focused on the social-cultural issues going on during his career and the Civil Rights Movement. It was super well done.

  

  Super cool Muhammad Ali painting by Leroy Neiman in the museum

• St. Louis, Missouri: Not going to lie, I didn't get the best vibes from St. Louis, but seeing the Gateway Arch was awesome. Its absolutely an architectural achievement and innovation. However, there was a museum under the arch about Lewis and Clark and cultivating the West which was a complete disappointment because they COMPLETELY left out Sacagawea. Its like they forgot her crucial role as interpreter to the Shoshone people, finding edible plants for food, and a symbol of peace to the tribes Lewis & Clark met on their expedition. On top of all this she was pregnant AND gave during the expedition. It was an outrage. Lets get some girl power in there, am I right?

Don't worry Sacagawea, I recognize your significance.

For those of you who missed out on childhood:

Reading With Meaning: Matthew 5

"You are the Light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it out on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven" - Matthew 5:14-16

This is the good stuff guys. Like the mind-blowing-so-cool-Jesus-rocks kind of good stuff. We are all filled with the light of Jesus. God hand picked each of us to be His and to be his messenger. He chose us to be the ones who would shine his light and bring him glory on the darkness of earth. He has put so much trust and love in us. Yet sometimes we shy away from this awesome role he has given us. We dim our light to please the world, to fit with our peers, to meet society's standards. We let the darkness of sin creep into the spots of our heart formally occupied by light and take over.
But we can't let this happen! We must protect our hearts because the truth is when we're not glorifying Jesus, we're glorifying the world and its sinful nature. There's no in between.
The world needs us be shining bright because the world desperately needs Jesus Christ. We can never turn our light off because we never know who will need to see God's love that day. God chose us with reason and purpose to be his people and we never know what his plans our for us to spread his love and bring him glory!

The Wonderous Age of 19

I went to the bank today and here are three reasons why it made me feel extremely old and adult-like:
1. I went to the bank. By myself. Sorry if I'm a late bloomer on this, but it was a new adult experience for me.
2. I was depositing a check. Not just any ol check that your grandparents send you for your birthday. This was a PAYCHECK from a REAL job. That's right, I'm a part-time working women. I also ordered checks, which brings us to...
3. My bank account is set up in both my and my dad's name, this is so he can deposit money in it if he wants and if I overdraft the money is taken out of his account and I'm not charged some outrageous fee. Anyway back to the story, it was my first time around the block for ordering checks too so the bank teller was explaining it to me, let me quote her, "The upper corner will contain the names of you and YOUR HUSBAND and your address....". That's right. I look so old that this lady automatically assumed the other name on my account was my husbands. I have reached the age where I look like I'm married. Great.

Update:
After the bank I went to Lowes this afternoon where I was denied my purchase of spray paint chalk board paint because I wasn't 21. So it appears that I have the stellar combination of looking like I can be married, but not being old enough to buy my own craft supplies.

Reading with Meaning: Matthew 3-4

 

A few thoughts on these passages:

1. In the beginning of chapter 4, Jesus goes into the wilderness where he is tempted by the devil. In fact the exact phrase is, "Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil."(Mat 4:1). The question that popped into my mind while reading this was, why would the Spirit purposefully lead Jesus into temptation? Why go running towards trouble? Lucky for me I have a sweet study Bible that enlightened me on this topic. By confronting and prevailing against Satan in the desert, Jesus showed us that temptation does NOT need to end in failure. This is SO encouraging. Jesus was face to face with the devil and able to resist temptation. Whatever the devil throws at us, it does not need to completely unravel us. Just like Jesus, our Savior, we are completely capable of resisting any temptation with the Lord's help. Pretty cool, huh?

2. Jesus is a pretty poetic guy. I know this may sound superficial, but I couldn't help but think about it while I was reading. Every word he spoke had purpose and thought behind it. Some of his phrases and metaphors are absolutely beautiful. The phrase that really stuck with me while reading was when Jesus was speaking to Peter and Andrew(two fishermen) and he said, "come follow me and I will make you the fishers of men"(Mat 4:19). I just absolutely love that sentence. I mean, how much better can you get?

3. Moderately related to #1, but while in the desert how Jesus fight off the devil and his temptation? The answer is scripture. Scripture, scripture, scripture. Knowing verses is scripture is so so important. Unfortunately, memorizing Bible verses is something I'm absolutely terrible at and I really need to make a conscious effort to get better at it.

Reading with Meaning: Matthew 1-2

 

The first couple pages of Matthew gives us a brief overview of some of the events and circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus. While the story focuses Jesus' virgin birth and King Herod's power-hungry massacre that follows, what stood out most to me in the passage was Joseph and his complete obedience and trust in the Lord. Joseph's life was completely turned around, yet he remained so steadfast in his faith. Think of the shock, sadness, and even anger he must have felt when he initially discovered Mary's pregnancy, but when an angel of the Lord told him the truth of her pregnancy Joseph "did what the angel of the Lord commanded him"(Mtw 1:24) without questioning. Joseph would go on to move his family not once but twice on the Lord's command, leaving his home, business, and friends all behind. He never doubted the Lord's guidance. He trusted in God's plan for him, for his family so completely that he was willing to do whatever the Lord commanded of him.

 

We've all been through adversity and trials like Joseph, but can we say that we never let our challenges create cracks in our faith? That we wholly and completely trusted in the Lord, His plan, and His timing. I know for myself, the answer is a resounding no. If I were in Joseph's shoes, there would have been quite a few times where I would want to take the reigns and ignore God's command. But here's the thing: God's plan is always the best plan. If Joseph had done what his instincts were telling him, what he wanted to do, there is a very real possibility we would all be without our SAVIOR, which is kind of a big deal. Keeping our trust and faith in God's plan is something we have to consciously remember and choose to do every day. Every morning we need to turn our lives and to him and always remember that God works for our good(Rom 8:28)!

Reading with Meaning

Reading and knowing God's word is important and I try to pull my Bible out everyday and read through a passage or two. Its something that's become a ritual every morning, which can be a bad thing. Too often reading my Bible, spending my 15 minutes alone with God becomes simply something to check off my to-do list. I'm reading His word, but not taking it in, not reflecting on it, not applying it to my life. I'm not reading with meaning.
So here's the plan.
I'm going to use this blog as a quiet time, accountability journal. I will be going through Matthew with YOU guys, posting passages everyday or two along with my reflections and thoughts about them. The hope is that the act of writing and sharing after reading will push me to delve deeper into the Word and gain more understanding.
Here we go!

VA SPURS

Va Spurs Va seems to be all I have been hearing the last month since returning home to San Antonio. And with good reason. I mean, the spurs are kind of awesome. And I'm not just saying this because two of the players used to live in my neighborhood or because I saw Tony Parker in an elevator once(though I'm sure theses close encounters had a huge impact on their success). I'm saying this because they are A W E S O M E. Let me elaborate on that for you.
Why You Should Love the Spurs

• Coach Pop. He gives monosyllable responses during most interviews, which has the opposite effect that one may initially think. Its actually pretty entertaining watching reporters try to phrase their questions in order coax a response that will last more than two seconds and then see Pop completely shut it down.
• The Spurs do wonderfully cheesy commercials for HEB.

 

 They are al absolutely great. Watch more here, here, and here.

• Spurs players have the best names. On what other team can you cheer for Manu, Tiago, Boris, Dejuan, Nando, or Kawhi?
• A humble yet effective big three. Tim, Tony, Manu, Y'all the best.

• Matt Bonner. I guess you could say I saved the best for last. I know some of you right now are questioning who Matt Bonner is, but trust me he's great. He had a sandwich blog in which he deems himself " The Sandwich Hunter in Quest for the Hoagie Grail". He's super smart( he graduated college with the likes of a 3.9). He can drain 3-pointers, leading to Kobe Bryant nicknaming him the Red Mamba(which has come to replace his prior nickname of the red rocket). On top of all of this, he's a red head(shout out the roomie) which is an extremely endangered species in the NBA. So to sum things up he's funny, smart, athletic, and a ginger, what more could you want on your team??

Let it fly matt