clearly i am seeing a pattern here. aunt alli thanks for sharing your love of treats to my sweet daughter lainey. these were yummy ice cream sandwiches the girls made together. yummmmy!
alli, millie is so beautiful...just like you. she is gorgeous. you are an amazing lover of Jesus and that makes you one of the most incredible mothers and wife i know. thank you for seeking Him first and showing that to millie and owen and for showing that to me and my kids like they were your own. i am super, super grateful for you. your creativity is unlike anyone i know. you can look at something and inspire. someone told me once that the Holy Spirit is creativity....you, my sister are clearly filled with his fullness.
i have so many, many wonderful memories with you al. from actually remembering being in the hospital when you were born. i was only 4 but i actually have a vague memory. in 1979 they didn't let kids go into the rooms to see the mommies and i remember them holding you up to the window and then we had to leave and there being this big door dad walked through and i just wanted to bust it open and go find mom. interesting what you remember.
so many fun memories of growing up with sparky. t-ball, slip and slides, forts in the backyard, babysitting, playing school and house all the time, snowball fights with the lees, kickball with the remy's, VBS, jackson, shepards fold, taco, YL camp, beach trip, yellowstone camping trip. it seems like yesterday that you and mike were doing the cheerleader skits on the old YL stage. you guys were so funny. it makes me laugh just thinking about you guys. taking kids to camp...you were an amazing yL leader...leading so many little ones to the foot of the cross...watching them encounter Jesus for the first time...anything sweeter. watching you, who am i kidding totally rejoicing with excitement as you and bryan starting dating, your engagement, wedding....so many fun memories. as awesome as all of those are
i have to say that some of my all-time favorite memories are now surrounded in 2007. being pregnant together, delivering our babies within 36hours of each other, nursing and caring for them in those early days....it makes me teary thinking about it. and now we just continue to make such amazing memories with both of them. they are incredible. millie is a little you. i adore you al, you are an incredible sister and best friend.
thanks for always cutting my kids hair. in the beginning a couple of years ago it just seemed easy. but now lainey just won't let anyone cut her hair but aunt alli. and beau well he has already had almost 4 haircuts and he is only 21 months. and annie...she's already got some precious hair and may need a cut before her older sister did. you might need to start a business on the side?again, thanks for loving and caring for my precious kids like they were your own.
Happy 30th Birthday Alli Jean!
words can't express how grateful i am to the Lord that i get to be your sister. you encourage and challenge me in ways that no one else in my life can...you are unique and incredibly special. God has deposited into you your unique giftings unlike anyone else and i am so thankful to be blessed by them and learn from them. even especially in the last 2 months since my precious annie was born...you have stood by us, encouraged us, interceeded for us, served us in ways that words can't begin to describe. today i sensed the Lord saying, "I am so pleased with my darling allison. she is my favorite and love her more than she has ability to understand at this moment. my affections run deeper than eternity for my precious allison. as i was praying for you and asking the Lord what i should share with you, what was on His heart for you as you turned the big 3-0. this is what He said to me. In your first 30 years you have experienced much JOY. but in your 30's, this next decade God wants to take you into greater depths of His JOY. You will experience greater JOY in this next year and in your 30's than you've ever experienced. His JOY will be greater in your life than you ever dreamed imaginable. He gave me this verse out of Isaiah. personally, i thought it was super cool because I see how sweet it is with how He has been drawing your giftings out in new ways even in this last season with intercession and the prophetic. its amazing to me how there is always LIFE in His voice...
"All these I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My alter; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all people." Isaiah 56:7
this was also really sweet to me because Jesus speaks about this again in Mark. the verse Mark 11:17 is one of the foundational verses of our community, NCC. its fun to see how God is using you and Bryan within our community to draw the lost of this city unto Himself. You all are vital in building His House of Prayer! I believe in this next decade of your life you will bear much Good, Good Fruit in the Kingdom. God is transforming this city and the world through You. His Life, His Character, His Love is most evident in you, my sweet sister, best friend and amazing lover of Jesus!
I love you with all my heart.
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