my heart was touched today

I haven't really shared anything personal on here, but I truly feel the need to right now. I finished my semester on Friday so naturally I've had some time to think. Well, as some of you know, time to think isn't always a good thing. Two days after the fire I threw myself back into school and my hectic schedule. Fortunately, that kept me busy and for the most part helped me keep my mind off of what happened. The days that were harder I had two of my closest friends at Chapman pounding on my door to take care of me. Seriously, they pounded. They refused to let me be alone.

Now that Christmas is coming closer I find it easier to start feeling sorry for myself. I have yet to be angry, maybe confused, but not angry. I want my house, I want my things, but most of all I don't want to lose my memories. Then I think of other people who are struggling more much than I am and want to know what my problem is, but we then I know we all struggle.

My best friend, Jenny, made me a CD of a bunch of random songs. Most of the songs pertain to being strong, talking about friendship, basically songs of encouragement. I've loved working my way through them these past couple of nights, and tonight I skipped to the last song and was caught by surprise. I'm not positive what the actual title of the song is but some of the lyrics go like this:

Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise
And when the darkness closes in Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

and then later on in the song:

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

I've loved this song for years now and have been looking for it since the fire. Tonight was the first time I've heard it in over 2 years, and I can't even express how grateful I am for these words. I believe the lyrics speak for themselves and for anyone who is struggling with anything right now. I wanted to share this with whoever is still looking at the blog because I find it so amazing how God works.

God bless!
~Alyssa

Moving In

Hey! I don't know how many of you are still following this, but just in case I wanted to give a quick update.

Many people are unsure of when we are going to move in to the rental. We should be moving in within the next 4 weeks. The earliest would be January 1st and the latest January 19th. I'm hoping we'll be able to be move in the first week of January, but who knows?