Ali Ballweg

In case anyone actually looks at this, I’m sorry for not posting anything in awhile.  I do have a valid excuse though.  My camera is ill.  Error 99 has taken over and there seems to be little hope  What is especially sad is that Fall is my favorite season for photography.  However, I’m engaged to a wonderfully generous man who has a 7D and I know for a fact that he will let me use his camera anytime I want  So, I promise to post both pictures and devotions again soon!

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are- yet was without sin.  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” –Hebrews 4:15-16

In the past, whenever I heard this verse, I thought of sin in the sense of being tempted to do something wrong like steal or cheat or gossip.  But today it hit me in a completely different way.

There is suffering in this world (John 16:33).  We ALL have things in our lives that cause us pain, frustration, and sadness.  However, we don’t have to be alone in that suffering; Jesus is right beside us, holding our hand, helping us through it (Isaiah 41:13).

Except, sometimes it doesn’t seem like it.  Life keeps throwing punches and things go from bad to worse.  Have you ever turned to God in prayer and felt like He wasn’t listening?  Have you ever wanted to give up hope in Him?  This is temptation just as much as the temptations I mentioned above, and the passage from Hebrews is perfect in addressing it gracefully.

Before I go on- Think about Jesus’ last day on this earth.  It wasn’t exactly the kind of day most of us would call “joyful.”  He was betrayed by a close follower, abandoned by all His friends, and had everyone screaming horrendous things at Him.  He struggled, immensely, even telling his disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow, do the point of death” (Matt 26:38). What did he do in response to this overwhelming suffering?  Despite being tempted to avoid the coming crucifixion, He poured His heart out to His Father, trusting God’s plan above His own.  The result?  Our sins forgiven and eternal life granted.

Please reread the passage from Hebrews again in light of this reminder of Christ’s last day on earth.

Can you imagine where we would be had Jesus not kept hope in God’s plan when circumstances kept going from bad to worse?  Jesus was tempted to give up during suffering, but instead He turned boldly to God and “For the JOY set before him, endured the cross…” (Hebrews 12:2) all for YOU.

Learn from Jesus- Don’t give up on God.  Trust His plan above your own.  Find joy in God when the circumstances seem to stomp out all your joy.  Come boldly before your Father and ask for the peace and grace that will propel you forward to do things you can’t imagine.

“I have told you these things, so that IN ME you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.” –John 16:33

My friend Krista requested my presence at a Christmas present photo shoot for her neighbors’ baby Noah.  Here’s the little cutie

I surprised Sky with a hike yesterday!  We went with Levi and Danielle and had a blast, especially since we went off the trail and got lost.  Man are the fall colors amazing in Winona right now…

So.. God has been speaking into my life a lot about taking life step-by-step.  And I played a few games of my favorite game, Uno, last weekend.  As I was spending this awesome Friday night with my Father, He mixed these two together in my brain and what came to me was an analogy about life being like Uno!

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.  God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” -Matthew 6:34 (The Message)

In Uno, you can only play one card at a time.  You can’t lay a yellow 2 and then lay that yellow 6 you have right away.  In life we can’t live today and tomorrow at the same time, however many of us try to.

And you really can’t plan much for future turns because you don’t know what card will be up when it’s your turn again.  In life we need to take each day step-by-step, focusing on the day in front of us.  Just like we have no idea what color will come up five turns from now, we don’t know where God will have us placed two years from now.

Oh and you know how sometimes you have three red cards when a red card is laid the turn before you?  And you kind of just have to make an educated guess about which card to lay down, knowing that you really just need to make a choice about which one to lay down?  Well that’s life- Sometimes we have several choices in front of us and instead of debating forever about which is the “right one,” we just need to choose one!

Sky and I were discussing the merits of Uno just last weekend and I think it requires some skill (more so than a game like War), but is mostly up to chance.  And I think living, and namely making decisions, requires some skill from us but is mostly out of our hands and in Gods.

I think it’s important to plan, prepare and think through decisions, however I often over-do these and God has shown me through this Uno analogy that I need to leave more in Gods hands.  And boy oh boy am I glad my life is in God’s hands and not up to me!

I have not posted pictures in months… So here are some to sum up my summer