You don't wanna miss these giveaways!

Hey everyone!  Just wanted to let y'all know about two awesome giveaways!

The first one is over Hannah's blog - the winner will receive three awesome prizes:

The second giveaway is over at Chelsy's blog - the winner will recieve a Lila Rose pearl headband:

So go on over - enter and cross your fingers ..... the winners will be announced on Monday ;)

Goals

*a new blog design {that's still in the air}. I've been wanting a new blog design ... one that looks professional, but if it doesn't happen this month ... hopefully it will happen either next month or sometime early 2015 (maybe).

*post more.  does there need to be any more said on this one lol? ;)

*exercise 3-4x a week. I was doing great in accomplishing this task ... buut ... oh well ... time to start fresh again!

*finish reading 'growing up duggar'. this book is so good--talk about rich and encouraging!!

*memorize 1 Corinthians 13. i used to have this memorized .... buut i honestly have forgotten it =/

*get caught up on letter writing.

*get up early consistently. my schedule is different now that I'm not working.  but i want to create a habit of getting up early ... so I can be more productive.  but this means that I can't stay up too late at night if I want to accomplish this.  although I do wear my 'night owl' badge with much pride lol.  Anyone else a night owl?

*journal more

*finish 3+ books of the Bible. 

*a surprise project.  if it's a surprise why would I tell you lol ;)

*get rid of a whole bunch of stuff (thank goodness for Goodwill). 

*pull staples from the sub-floor in my bedroom.  while I'm gone in October, Mom and Dad will be putting wood floor down in my bedroom {yaaaay}.  however, if I want them to do this, I need to pull all the staples from the sub-floor {all the staples from when the carpet was down}.

*Do a photo-shoot or two.  I love photography - in fact I wouldn't mind taking classes to improve. so hopefully the Lord will provide opportunities for me to do a couple.  rhey is sick and tired of me doing photoshoots with her lol!

I admit, I was totally forgetful in my September goals .... buuut there is always this month lol!

My October goals are all the incomplete tasks up above .... sorry there are no new exciting ones lol :P

In HIS grace, Alisha

When God answers a prayer ...

Have you ever asked God to reveal something to you?  Have you ever prayed something like,  

"Father, I need a sign if [certain thing you have in mind] is Your will.  Please give me a sign!"

 For a while now, I have been praying for something specific (I don't feel comfortable sharing at this point in time).  Not praying for it to come to pass the way I wanted it to, but for it to come to pass the way God saw fit.

Asking God for a sign:

"Lord, please reveal YOUR will to me in this situation.  I don't need a neon sign, I just need You to show me in Your own special way, that it's in your will or it isn't."

My prayer was answered and God revealed to me what His will is!

God's answer to my prayer:

 He revealed His answer to me in a way that I never thought He would.  And to be honest ... I'm glad His answer was the answer I wanted deep down ... the answer was no.

"Alisha, you're making this up to sound like a perfect Christian .... no one likes it when God says 'no'!"

Let me be honest with you ... if you had told me "Ali, God is going to reveal to you the answer to your prayers, and the answer is gonna be 'no'", I would have been like, "ummm ... ha-ha ... no it won't ... His answer will be a 'yes.'"  But then I started changing the aspect of my prayers, instead of praying for what I wanted, I started praying for what God wanted.  Once I changed the aspect of my prayers, I started thinking "what if God's answer is no?  Am I prepared for that?"

Was I prepared just in the case His answer was no?

Had the answer come before I changed the direction of my prayer, my answer would have been "no".  However, the Lord is so good to show His children in His own special way that their prayers aren't aligned with His will.

Yes I was prepared [mentally, emotionally, and spiritually] just in the case His answer was "no".  I'm glad I was too, or else I would have been an emotional, mental, and spiritual wreck ... no joke!

What have I learned through this?

 Even an event, circumstance, or what have you, seems to be from God ... I need to step back and ask myself: "Is this really God ordained or is it my flesh taking control?"

The reason anyone should ask themselves this, is because:

Sometimes we may want something so bad, the devil will make the situation look God ordained just to draw the child of God away from their Heavenly Father.

Did I want God's answer to be "yes"?  In the beginning I did, but as time went on, I began see how I wouldn't have been aligned with God's precious will for my life.

Am I an emotional, mental, and spiritual wreck?  Not at all, why?  Because in God's answer, I see His beautiful story unfolding in a whole different way.  I have a complete peace, and His answer didn't hurt me as much as I thought it would.

Thank God for His comforting peace ... I know His answer was no for a reason, and I am so thankful that I didn't end up where I was at 13 (more on that down the road)!

In HIS grace, Alisha