Costa Rica in Pictures

Pura Vida

My feet are firmly planted back in the U.S. after leading a student mission team to Costa Rica. Kissing the ground over here, friends. And warm showers. And breakfasts that don’t include rice and beans. Oh, and winters that make it impossible for wild iguanas to roam freely in Georgia. So.many.kisses.

We left Costa Rica. But Costa Rica hasn’t left me. I can’t stop using Costa Rica’s unofficial slogan: Pura Vida (pure life). It’s a phrase tikos (locals) use without abandon and I’m on the official bandwagon. Want to say hello? Pura Vida. Roll your eyes and say ‘whatever?’ Pura Vida. Exclaim ‘YOLO’ (you only live once)? Pura Vida. Quote the Lion King and yell ‘Hakuna Matata?’ Pura Vida. Say goodbye? Pura Vida. Describe how awesome something was? Pura Vida. Seriously, it’s an acceptable phrase in any situation. Even at a funeral. No lie.

It’s emblazoned on every hat, t-shirt, and bracelet at every market stand hawking touristy wares. It’s plastered on billboards. Hanging on businesses. Featured in advertisements. Repeated on TV. Stuck on every surface imaginable. Like happy, blissful propaganda.

But Pura Vida is so ironic. Tikos think they have pure life, because their country is beautiful and their way of life ‘uncluttered,’ but we as believers know that a pure life only exists through Jesus. It was because of His sacrifice – His blameless, unblemished sacrifice – that we have the promise of pure life. We have a pure, perfect Savior. Without Him, Pura Vida is nothing more than a kitschy phrase on an ugly airbrushed shirt. And believe me, they were ugly.

I am so grateful that the Lord allowed us to share that same message with kids and families in Dominical last week. Many have experienced our perfect Savior and true Pura Vida for the first time. That’s reason to celebrate!

Pura Vida,

Allison

Hunger Names

If you’re absurdly obsessed with the Hunger Games like I am (gag), you’ll appreciate this:

HungerNames: I’d like a less-wimpy name and a more likely way to die. Apparently pterodactyls are making a comeback.

Check out your name/death at http://www.hungernames.com. You’ll be glad you did.

love, allison

 

right or wrong?

I either have a secret tracking device or a tattoo across my forehead that says ‘easy target.’ I’m a freakish magnet for freakishly complicated people and their “can-I-just-ask-you-a-quick-question?” predicaments. I might as well be Ask Eloise with less gray hair and a nonexistent pearl necklace collection. And ALL the southern women gasped.

• If my second toe is longer than my big toe, does that really mean I’m bossy?
• Can you try this on? My granddaughter is about your size. She’s twelve.
• I think my friend is stealing money from work. What should I do?
• If telling the truth will hurt them and lying will hurt them, can I just do nothing?
• What color underwear should I wear on a date? What style?
• Should I marry him?
• Should I follow my dreams or should I go to college?

In most situations the advice seeker boils their gobs and gobs of gory details down to this singular question:  “What’s the right thing for me to do?”

Uh. Could there be a more horrific question?

This is the moment where I muster up something that makes me sound as spiritual as they perceive I am; “Have you prayed about it?” followed by an arduous monologue about right and wrong. Sure, there are plenty of things the Bible tells us are right. Of course we can rattle off the Fruit of the Spirit, can’t we? Yes, there are lots of things the Bible speaks specifically against. Have you seen Charlton Heston in all of his Ten Commandments glory?

Most of the time we meander our way into a Biblically sound solution. But sometimes there isn’t a black and white ‘God-wants-you-to-do-this’ fix. So friends, can we just go ahead and address the fact that sometimes things are still kind of really, really gray? I mean, life’s messy and the perfectly ‘right’ answer seems as attainable as closeups of Big Foot.

And that’s when I launch my most sincere inquiry to date:

“What Would Jesus Do?”

C’mon, people. No. I threw away my navy WWJD bracelet the summer between seventh and eighth grades. Right after kids started inserting other J words: junipers, Jews, jaguars, Judge Judy, and jerky.

Absolutely. You know, “What Would Jerky Do?” really does have a nice ring to it.

No, my go-to question has become this: “What’s the wise thing for you to do?” Because somehow ‘wise’ splits the right or wrong argument like a river gorge. Wisdom soothes and heals as it seeps into broken, messed-up situations. Wisdom brings clarity. And it’s accessible.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him.

James 1:5

So instead of asking, “Is this right or wrong?” let’s ask “What’s the wise thing to do?”  And while we’re at it, let’s ask for wisdom. Heaps of it. Because I’ve got to find a way to tell my retired neighbor that his bird feeder obsession is the reason I keep finding sunflower seeds in my bedroom carpet. It’s driving me cray-cray.

the Hunger Games: ruining my life

The Hunger Games are ruining my life.

1. In an inadvertent experiment of sleep depravity, I read 374 pages in one fell swoop the night of Daylight Savings Time. 3:15 AM has never felt so much like 4:15 AM.
2. Yes, I ran out of tears, my hands got clammy, and my heart raced at an alarming rate for five straight hours. This can’t be good for my long-term health.
3. Anyone else stalking friends who own books 2 and 3, asking them repeatedly if they’re finished so you can borrow? I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS.
4. Spectacular nightmares started and just keep on coming. The least traumatic is the recurring dream that I’m on Survivor Man with Bear Grylls and I must a) drink my urine to say alive and b) bludgeon anyone who comes near me. Friends, I am not hardcore enough for this.
5. This book is forcing me to decide between Team Peeta and Team Gale. After the Twilight saga I thought I’d escaped needing to choose one fictional character over another (ahem, Team Jacob/Peeta).
6. I also never thought I’d be pressured by every breathing American into standing in line for 3 hours to see the film opening night. And no, I am NOT dressing up like Katniss. Please. I hate cargo pants.
7. Once I do see the film, how long must I wait for the next?!
8. I’m one tiny step away from starting a book club. I don’t want to be THAT person
9. It’s horrifically embarrassing to admit that I’m hooked on a young adult fiction series. It’s for like 15 year olds or something.
10. The People magazine featuring the movie’s behind-the-scenes details leapt into my cart yesterday and now I’m five bucks poorer and sinking into new levels of lameness.

Please tell me The Hunger Games are ruining your life too.

love, allison

beware of the ‘friend zone’ – part 2

Yesterday’s Beware of the ‘friend zone’ – part 1 is a must-read if you need a thorough and pseudo-scientific definition of the friend zone and how it plays out in girls’ lives. It will make today’s post make oh-so-much sense. So just run on over and read it real quick, will ya’?

Part 2 —–

“Beware of the friend zone.”

You’re secretly wishing he’ll notice that you’re who he wants. But the fact is, you’re not even on girlfriend radar.

Paranoia sets in and you ask yourself the ultimate question: How can I change myself to become the girl he wants? I’ll be stuck as his friend if I don’t.

This? This is one of the heartbreaking symptoms of the friend zone. Sweet, godly, beautiful girls so desperately want to climb out of the perpetual friend zone that they succumb to the sickening lies of self-doubt. They begin adopting words, behaviors, clothes, and attitudes foreign from who they already are – and who they know Lord has created them to be.

They choose these things in order to be chosen. Old self. In the pit of self-doubt, the enemy convinces girls that these characteristics are desirable outside of the friend zone. They are what will get them noticed in a new light. Liked. Dated.

Beware of the friend zone. Not because godly male friendships are dangerous to girls. But because in the face of potential rejection, they will meet temptation to change themselves into someone new. Except it’s the old.

Please, talk to your girls about the lies and dangers of the friend zone. Tackle the topic of healthy male friendships. Teach them to trust the God who is at work in their lives, transforming them into His likeness.

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy. 1 Peter 1:14-16

Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24

beware of the ‘friend zone’ – part 1

“Beware of the friend zone.”

Wish I had a buck for every time I heard that from girls. I’d be filthy rich. (And then, of course, tithe ten percent, build wells in Africa, and sponsor no less than 27 Compassion children. C’mon. Give me some credit.)

So, the friend zone. It’s a thing. A dramatized, pop culture-ized thing. It might as well be the plague or some other wildly rampant and ironically incurable disease because yes, it’s “that bad.”

I’m here to shed timely light on the dreadful friend zone, with the help of a few experts: a gaggle of sophomore girls. They have been fed mass quantities of M&Ms and Coke and are surprisingly willing to help.

Here’s how the friend zone works, according to these now pre-diabetic girls:

Say you meet this really hott boy (the extra ‘t’ is critical). The two of you are instant friends. He’s funny, athletic, plays guitar, and tutors at-risk kids. Oh, he happens to wear V-neck tees and Toms shoes (philanthropic, a bonus!), and loves Jesus.

You start leading FCA together. Text Scriptures to your entire class. He to the boys, you to the girls. You don’t want anyone to get the wrong impression, do you? You and Mr. V-neck are a match made in… heaven. That’s right. Your feelings accidentally changed  from ‘we’re great friends’ to ‘God-told-me-I’m-going-to-marry-him-in-this-dress-I-saw-on-Pinterest’ somewhere between admiring his purity ring and memorizing his lacrosse number.

But the germs of the friend zone have already crept into your fledgling relationship. You heart him, but he placed you in the official friend zone weeks ago. That’s practically a life sentence: undateable.

Sure, he’s going to go out with eleven girls this year and ask you to meet each one. You’ll offer kind words and encouragement. Why? You’re secretly wishing he’ll notice that you’re who he wants. But the fact is, you’re not even on girlfriend radar.

read”‘Friend Zone’ – part 2″ tomorrow

pride and prejudice… I mean, girls ministry

I don’t know about you, but Beth Moore and I are practically BFFs. And by best friends, I mean, I read her books like a crazed stalker and she remains blissfully unaware that I live on this planet. Regardless, we’re always on the same page until she gets personal and smacks me with one or two Scriptures that I’d rather read than live out.

That’s when I decide that our friendship is over. In true mean-girl style, I want to call up every friend I’ve ever had and tell them how mad I am at her. I become a happy little Beth Moore deserter and throw her book down in an act of spectacular frustration. No white flag of surrender here; it’s victorious to see her face on the ground for a few days. My life is easier without her and those hard-to-swallow truths.

Take THAT, Beth.

Her books and I stage dramatic break ups so often it’s practically art. But the distance doesn’t last. Her blindingly white smile and sincere eyes burn a hole in me until I recognize the Spirit’s prompting to ditch my wounded pride.

My tumultuous relationship with Beth’s wise teaching reminds me of how middle school and high school girls often feel and respond to the gentle correction of women who are investing in their lives.

Their go-to behavior? Throw a secret tantrum. Forget Scripture. Seek advice that’s easier to hear. Don’t pray about it. I mean, who needs wise counsel? Talk to seventeen friends about the injustice instead. Shirk spiritual authority and accountability. Guidance is overrated. Besides, the problem is obviously everyone else.

Oh wait, am I talking about these girls, or myself?

Does anyone else identify with this? Why is it easier to get angry with the women who speak difficult Biblical truths into our lives than to acknowledge and tackle our own glaring sinful deficiencies?

As we work to teach our girls with kindness and wisdom, a la Proverbs 31:26, my prayer is that we begin to move toward responding to loving correction in our own lives with humble and teachable spirits.

Which means I need to go smooth out the crinkled pages of my book and wipe off Beth’s dusty highlights.

Embarrassed, party of one.

Pride and Prejudice: a guest post at Lifeway’s Girls Ministry blog.

oh hello again.

Oh hello again, little love.allison blog. It’s been a while and it seems that I sort of ditched you, doesn’t it? Have no fear. I didn’t give up totally I just rerouted my writing ventures elsewhere for very, very specific audiences. That sounds exclusive. If it were only that cool. But prepare your hearts, I’m back. And hopefully with a bevy of new posts to share and more wit wisdom weirdness than ever.

Meanwhile, here’s a small taste of some small-ish things I’ve been up to.

• changed states
• bought a house
• became a temporary hotel. okay, family/friends/beagles don’t count.
• invested in a new faith community
• began building a girls’ ministry, ground up
• started intentional discipleship
• adopted six rescue puppies
• backpacked all of Europe on a whim

Okay, the rescue puppies are a stretch. And backpacking Europe is a no-go. There’s no way I’m cool with hostels. But the other things are true. And maybe a puppy (or two) will accidentally make its way into my house, you know, on a day when I accidentally leave the front door open and puppy chow in the foyer.

And hey, I’ve been guest posting a bit lately. I think I might like it. A lot. A lot a lot.

Most recently you can find my rantings at Lifeway’s Girls Ministry blog. Don’t judge me too much. Beth Moore and I have since made amends. You should probably check it out because deep down in your hearts, you’re just dying to tell the world that you and Beth fight too. Go on, admit it. You’ll feel better, pinky promise.

love, allison

ditch the boots

Who needs to embrace winter anyway?

It’s February, 60*, and I’m itching to wear flip flops.

I know, it would make me ‘one of those people.’

Bad, right?

But I’m about .2 seconds away from ditching the boots and giving in.

Save your judgement.

Free your toes!

love,

allison