I don't want to forget......

I don’t want my children to forget…. I don’t want them to ever stop living in the legacy of Faith as they grow so that one day when the Lord calls them to Himself they can continue to pass on the only Hope that does not disappoint.

Romans 5:5

      and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

I want them to see Him in the little things: in the way he makes their tummies feel better after a night of sickness, in the way that He gives them friends to have a day of fun and fellowship with.

Colossians 1:17

            He is before all things, and in Him all things hold    together.

I want them to see Him in the big things: in the way that He wrote and is writing the story of their little sister, in the way that He transforms lives and families and hearts. I want them to know the Living God, the one that is in the details of our lives, the one that I trust my next step and next breath too. How will they know if I don’t tell them?

Romans 11:36

      For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To him be the glory Forever! Amen

Today, I had the gift to go to Bible study this morning and sit around a table with some sweet sisters, whom I have grown to love and adore through the years. We were studying on Gideon and how at the beginning of his story he was a fearful man, timid and unaware of the great calling on his life by the Lord. But he does end up listening and obeying and following God and he is victorious in battles and his whole demeanor changes. However…. As the story goes on….he forgets. He forgets who has given Him this great calling and who should receive all of the glory and soon other things creep into his life that demand his heart and those other things, don’t deserve it and don’t have a place but when we forget God and his goodness and his truths that will be the result.  (Judges 8 )

As we sat at the table, we discussed the importance of the small things and finding Him in the day to day and in the good so that when the trials and storms come, our relationship with the mighty God who is in all things and above all things is Firm and steadfast. If we live under His mighty wings when the Sun is shining and feel His goodness and protection, then when the rain comes (& it will), we will know nothing else than our safe home.

Psalm 91:4

He will comver you with His feather and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart

I want my prince charmings to know His faithfulness in the good times and even the hard times.

I was at the mall recently doing a bit of birthday shopping for my sweet sister and a very glittery journal  was spotted by my glitter adoring eyes at J.crew. My sweet hubby quickly said, why don’t you “forget” about it and then it can happen to be in your stocking for Christmas. Well, that didn’t happen and it made it home with me… it is sooo pretty. I have yet to write in it… until today…. But after this morning and some great brainstorming by some wonderful women….. the writing will commence…

This will be my glittery gratitude Journal…. It will be my altar in what sometimes can feel like a wilderness to remember God’s faithfulness…. And I am so excited.

Joshua 4:20- 24

And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: When your children ask their fathers in time to come saying “What are these stones? Then you shall let your children know saying Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land for the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over as the Lord your God did to the Red sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty that you may fear the Lord your God forever!

I want my boys to see this out often and to even add to it as they begin to understand the meaning behind it. I want them to learn to look for Him in all things because He is in all things and He loves us in a way my mind will never understand, but by being full of gratitude and looking for Him, I will find Him and my prayer above all others is that my boys; my  greatest kingdom work, will find Him too.  

A Princess & her Fairytale

A

Princess

and

her

Fairytale

Once upon a time, the Great King looked down and saw one of his most prized princesses. Oh how He loved her and thought that she was so splendidly made. She had long blond hair and such an elegant figure, but more than that she had a heart full of Love. That love was something that the Great King wanted to use. He would use it to change the world.

       One day, the lovely princess met a prince, but it was not just any prince, it was the prince made just for her. Oh how she loved this prince and she thought that he was just gorgeous and handsome and so wonderful, but most of all, this prince made just for her, loved the Great King as much as the princess and together they could do so much for the Kingdom of the Great King.

So the prince and the princess were married and spent some wonderful years growing their love for one anther and building their lives on the hopes and truths of the Great King. Then one day the most wonderful news came to the princess and prince, the love that they shared had grown so much through the years that the Great King was blessing them with a baby girl.

She too would be beautiful and full of love. You see the little princess, born to the beautiful princess and prince was given a special gift. Her physical heart, though not fully whole in the world’s eyes, was actually more whole and complete than most hearts and through her journey of making her heart whole, she would draw people to the Great King.

She too would be a beautiful princess, full of love and joy.  She was so full of this love and joy because she saw it so rightly displayed from her beautiful mother and wonderful father. She would make her mother and father so happy and full of a joy that they only could imagine actually existed before she came into their life.  Now they could understand the Great King’s love for them in a very real and tangible way because of the gift of their little princess. You see the little princess was a gift to all.

Because of the Great Kings love for the beautiful princess and the prince they were able to love the little princess well and show the kingdom a pure and true glimpse of the Great King and His love. In their own little kingdom, the royal family was a blessing to all who met them.

The royal family wore their love well through the hard times in their little kingdom and the good times in their little kingdom.  The beautiful princess and the handsome prince and the lovely little princess kept looking to the Great King to direct them in their steps and learned more of His love as they loved one another well and they lived joyfully.  

Love & Blessings,

Erin Allred

-another loyal subject to the Great King who adores this royal family

A Big Announcement......

A Big Announcement:

Today is a new chapter in the Allred family of four…. We are expecting!!!!!!!

But wait for it…. God willing, we are expecting a little girl and she will not come from my belly, but instead she will come from across the ocean from a foreign land from a mother and father who we will most likely never meet this side of heaven.  

We are starting the adoption process with America World Adoption Association. Most likely, this process from start to finish will  take around 3 years, give or take.

It will be a character building process, however, we know that this is the Lord’s calling on our family and are excited and somewhat apprehensive as we move forward. J 

I saw this quote the other day at my sister-in-love’s house and I feel that it sums up our view on adoption perfectly:

                 

Adoption

Because of His great Love for us before the world began, we are chosen by God to be adopted as His children…

We love because He first loved us…

A pure act of faith is to care for His children just as He cared for us.

Adoption is partnering with Jesus to see lives transformed…

Adoption is a Miracle!

If you don’t mind, over the next few months and years to come, we would ask that you would:

1.   Pray for us: pray specifically for our little girl, her birth family and the circumstances that will surround her coming into our life. Also, please pray for our family as we move forward in this process and as we continue to parent our marriage & boys and show them the love of Christ.

2.  Consider Giving: The international adoption of our daughter will most likely cost between $28,000-$40,000 dollars. This is not an amount that we currently have and we are trusting in the Lord for His provision and guidance. We have seen his faithfulness in the past financially through our adoption of our first son and we know that He will be faithful again! That is the kind of GOD we serve!

In the next few months and weeks, we will be doing some different fund raising such as garage sales, bake sales, arts and crafts sales as well as some photography too. If you are interested in making a donation to our adoption please contact Ben or I. Also, stop by our Facebook pages and this blog for updates on how to give & pray.

3.  Consider adoption for your family: We know that adoption is not for everyone, but as believers in Christ, we have all been “adopted”  (Ephesians 1:5) into His forever family and are called to take care of the widows and orphans (James 1:27).

  Prayerfully consider what role adoption should play in your family.

Thank you for sharing with us as we begin ourjourney! The Lord is good and faithful and we are so excited to start this adoption and make our family of Four into Five!

God is good!