The Theory Of Everything

Pioneering Scientist Stephen Hawking passes away at age 75.

This is on my newsfeed today.

One of his most quotable quotes.

On humanity: “We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special” – Interview in Der Spiegel, October 1988

He was considered. a groundbreaking scientist.

Today he meets the Creator who can answer ALL his earth shattering questions and bring him up to turbo speed on where our intelligence comes from that what makes us ALL very special and unique. 

Mark 8:36

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

This my friends could possibly explain the theory of everything. 

God, open the eyes of the seekers to see you, their ears to hear you, and their hearts to receive you. 

 In Jesus name,

Kelley Allison

www.bowlofsplendor.com

God Sees It All

European astronomers have taken a stunning photo of a Big Brother-style cosmic eye, nicknamed the Eye of God…

My heart is full and discouraged at times when I discover more and more atrocities going on all around us. Some are widely seen and displayed such as mass shootings at schools and venues. Others are under cover and progress slowly with a hidden agenda set in motion by people of power and honor.

Nothing is ever as it seems, as I discover more and more the lies and the hypocrisy that we as humans are capable of possessing. I feel helpless at times when I stop and look around and see situations that children are living under and the seemingly dim future ahead for those less fortunate. As I become more aware, I find my self asking God why doesn’t He stop these perpetrators that are seemingly getting away with literal murder all around us.

I was asked yesterday by a high school student how do I survive? Can you please give me advice so that I can make it. She said she had accepted Jesus as her Savior earlier when our group had come to share the gospel.  Her circumstances didn’t change. It had become increasingly more difficult she explained. She went on to say she felt discouraged after listening to our speaker. We had brought in a lady who had overcome extreme poverty and obstacles to help encourage the student. Her message was powerful and she gave the students an example of possibility that they too did not need to be a product of their environment.

I asked the discouraged student if she had anyone to go to for help and guidance. She said no. There was no church she attended, no parents of sound mind, no friends of positive influence and no teachers with any time.

My heart was heavy because I knew a quick prayer over her wouldn’t fix her and I honestly had no answers for her to magically erase her problems. Our team had to go and I grabbed our speaker and pointed out the student and told her the situation. As I was leaving I saw the young student writing down the speaker’s phone number as she called it out to a couple students who would NOT leave because they had more questions.

These kids were hoping to find something to help them set in motion a way to graduate and make their life a success. I reflect back on how I can take all these legitimate worries for our safety and our children’s safety in this broken world of 2018. I go to the only thing I know can help give me hope.

I do my normal flip to a passage in the Bible and ask God to answer my cry for this time we find ourselves living. I know Psalms is a good landing spot, so I open up to Psalm 103 and I am overwhelmed with gratitude for a good God who is rich in love and mercy. He has a divine plan of restitution set up for victims and makes everything right in the end. I am reminded He has eyes and sees everything and nothing gets by Him as He sits in His throne and rules over us all.

Praise the Lord, O my soul!!

Thank you God,

Kelley Allison

www.bowlofsplendor.com

Restitution Definition:

• The restoration of something lost or stolen to its proper owner.

• Recompense for injury or loss.

• The restoration of something to its original state.

Psalm 103 The Message 

O my soul, bless God.
From head to toe, I’ll bless his holy name!
O my soul, bless God,
don’t forget a single blessing!

He forgives your sins-everyone.

He heals your diseases—every one.

He redeems you from hell—saves your life!
He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.
He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.
He renews your youth—you’re always young in his presence.

God makes everything come out right;
he puts victims back on their feet.
He showed Moses how he went about his work,
opened up his plans to all Israel.
God is sheer mercy and grace;
not easily angered, he’s rich in love.
He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold,
nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve,
nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
so strong is his love to those who fear him.
And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
he has separated us from our sins.
As parents feel for their children,
God feels for those who fear him.
He knows us inside and out,
keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.
Men and women don’t live very long;
like wildflowers they spring up and blossom,
But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly,
leaving nothing to show they were here.
God’s love, though, is ever and always,
eternally present to all who fear him,
Making everything right for them and their children
as they follow his Covenant ways
and remember to do whatever he said.

God set his throne in heaven he rules over us all. He’s the King!
So bless God, you angels,
ready and able to fly at his bidding quick to hear and do what he says.
Bless God, all you armies of angels,
alert to respond to whatever he wills.
Bless God, all creatures, wherever you are—
everything and everyone made by God.

And you, O my soul, bless God!

Our Story Is Not Finished Yet

Do you happen to remember the old clothesline’s seen outside? Maybe you remember seeing a rope hanging between two trees with clothespins holding sheets, jeans and shirts? It could be possible you are not old enough to have seen a clothesline anywhere.

Clothes were hung out to dry in the sun and fresh air back then mostly because dryers were not yet invented. Some just did because they saw their mothers do the tedious task before them.

The Lord showed me a picture in my mind a long time ago and just now of him taking our souls out to dry. Our souls representing the parts of us that make us who we are… our will and emotions. Allowing Him to wash them through the old fashion ringer washers by hand and then placing them up on a clothesline to dry in the rays of the Son’s light and love to dry.  

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us of all our unrighteousness.” ~ 1 John 1:9

Do we really believe Him? Do we really think He will forgive? First we have to own it. Then we confess or repent which means to turn the other way. Jesus is reminding me that, YES!!

 He is there waiting to make all things new. 

Fresh and clean; without spot or wrinkle. 

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” ~James 5:16 

Sometimes we need to share with trusted ones our weak areas where we may struggle with and circle around.

Know that your story is not finished. You have only just begun and great things are ahead for you. 

Take some time to listen to this amazing song that reminds us that our stories are not finished yet. 

Comfort Song by 

Laura Woodley Osman 

Hang out to dry,

Kelley Allison

bowlofsplendor.com

Filler Up

How many of us are running around on empty fumes?

We wake up to our next day full of activities, errands, work or a long  list of things to do. 

Our intention is always good with a fresh new start to the next day. We require to a “redo” day if we didn’t quite accomplish all we had hoped to the day before. 
How many times do I think I will start off my day in the Word of God? 

Too many for sure. 

I desire to have some prayer and maybe a pause or reflection. Then off the day goes and you look back and your good intentions did nothing but make you feel guilty for not taking the time to chit chat with God and be thankful. 

The old proverb.. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” comes to play. 

Maybe your day wasn’t that extremely horrific but you find yourself at the end of it wondering how you got through it without taking casualties along the way.

I made a choice this morning with my good intention to actually sit down and pause for a moment.

It is November here in Texas. It is suppose to be cool fall weather. That was last week when I wore a jacket wrapped in a blanket at a football game. Today it’s 80 degrees and I am wearing shorts. So it is a perfect morning to stop, drop and roll into the scriptures. I can smell the gardenias and hear the birds chirping.

You might ask how do you fill up at the morning “soul” station? How do you fill up yourself properly? How can you be equipped to give out what you receive? 

Well, for me it’s always different. I like to change things up to to make it more interesting and fun. 

Today’s stop.  🛑 
Unedited 
1. Go outside with Bible, notebook and phone (for music) 

2) Sit in shade under umbrella at table by pool. 

3) Close my eyes 👀 

4) Smell the gardenias and listen to birds chirp. 

5) Breathe deeper. (so I can sniff the flowers better)

6) Block out airplane noise flying by…but then pray for the people in the planes for safety and protection. 

7) Create in me a clean heart…oh God

 I confess my sins and ask Him to replace my insufficiencies with His sufficient GRACE. 

That reminds me of Psalm 34 

8)Then I open to Psalm 34 and read through the chapter pausing and reflecting on how good our God is and how I don’t have to fear the bad things happening around me. 

9) Psalm 34:7 “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them.” 

10)Help me to have a holy reverence towards you God…. pause

11)Psalm 34:18 The Lord is near the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Thinking of all those affected by recent mass shootings and loved ones being murdered….pause 

12) Spend some more time in Psalm 34  reading, reflecting and praying for others and my family. 

13) Play “Oceans” song by Hillsong because I am outside wishing I was by an ocean.

14)Listen to the words and song and imagine I am there with Jesus walking on water…..reflect 

Confession: 

I picked one of the three gardenias to carry around under my nose all day. You have to watch out there are tiny tiny bugs 🐜 in there!!

There it’s done!!

I paid extra with both time and intention. 

My soul is filled up with my premium gas this morning so I can go through my day and NOT run out of gas or steam. I should have some extra mileage allowance since I started off with a full tank this morning and my good intentions are complete paved on a road with a heavenly purpose. 

Drive on, 

Kelley Allison

bowlofspendor.com

Audio version of Psalm 34 NIV version 

‪Hillsong UNITED Oceans song ‬

A Whale Of A Tale

I have a confession to make. 
I am getting a little bored lately in my Bible reading. It’s not the Bible’s fault, I take complete ownership of my lack of interest. 

I was challenged last week by my husband sharing with us one ‪Sunday morning‬ his discoveries in the book of Jonah. We all know the story, right? One prophet man doesn’t want to warn a particular sinful city, so he flees and God sends a whale (we like to think it’s a whale) to eat him up and throw him up on dry land three days later. The end. 

My husband went on to read us the parts we don’t read usually nor do we remember.

Did you know the book of Jonah is literally one page of the Bible. It has four short chapters. 

I find it amusing how God speaks to Jonah in the last chapter. As if a “whale” wasn’t enough God goes on to use a fast growing shade plant and then sends worms immediately to eat up the plant.  

Serious movies and novels could be made to entertain millions with the actions of some of these Bible characters and their antics. 

So here’s the sucker punch line that gets me in the last verse of Jonah chapter four. 

This is God speaking to Jonah after he had a couple sleepovers in a fish belly and got catapulted onto the shore. Now he wants to die out of frustration and weariness of warning wicked people of their fate. 

Stick a fork in Jonah, he’s done!!

“And should not I pity Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from there left and also much cattle?”

That’s how God ends the story folks. 

I honestly thought Nineveh, the city he was sent to was destroyed. I missed the best part. The Bible says the people of Nineveh believed God. “They called for a fast and put on sack cloth, and the greatest of them to the least of them.”

Guys, they repented and turned to God  and their city was spared. 

God really does not let it go and  consistently pursues Jonah to get the message to the people so they can be saved.

 I serve a COMPASSIONATE God who desires for ALL to know Him and walk out their destiny that God deposited in them before they were born. 

That was my take away. I look at what is going all around us today in 2017!!

Mass shootings, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, wild fires all circling around us at one time. God is desiring for us to repent and turn from our wicked ways and look to Him in our times of trouble. He wants me to repent. He wants me to turn from things that keep me from walking in freedom. He wants me to look  only to Him for my salvation and hope. 

You seriously have to read the book of Jonah to get the whole story and all it’s inner workings of repentance, compassion, obedience and complete and utter frustration to the point of wanting to die. 

I will post a link for you to check out the story for yourself. Of course, it will be The Message version I post. It makes it super easy for me to follow along.  Read it and see what great little nuggets God gives you about His sovereignty and His desire to draw all men unto himself.

Bonus:

Touch the link “listen” and you don’t even have to read it!!

Fish on, 

Kelley Allison

http://www.bowlofsplendor.com 

The Storms Of Life

What is a storm? That seems like a silly question, but there are many kinds and they come in all shapes and sizes disguised as illness, job loss, divorce, death and some even have names such as Harvey and Irma! 

 They are usually devastating and life-changing and definitely get our attention. We often ask, “Why me?” or “How could this be happening?” as if there will be an audible answer. Those are great questions and perhaps we will never know the answer until we get to heaven, where possibly we can look back on our life, like a movie, and see the purpose of the storm.  
Rest assured there will be storms in your life, and you may even be in the midst of one now, and as hard as it may be, just trust that you are not alone and God has you in the palm of His hand and He will help you get through it. 

“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” Philippians 4:13. This is the time that you have to be steadfast in the Word, even when you don’t think you have time or can’t find the energy to open your Bible, that is where you will find peace, comfort and the strength to move forward.

We must have faith to believe that God is using every situation for His purpose and trust that it is for our good. “We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are chosen to be a part of His plan.” Romans 8:28. I love the words by Casting Crowns, “I’ll praise You in this storm, and I will lift my hands, for You are who You are, no matter where I am, every tear I’ve cried You hold in Your hand, You never left my side and though my heart is torn, I will praise You in this storm.” 

 Music is so comforting and brings peace to your soul and gives you strength to go on. 

James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing”. 

 This verse may seem difficult to understand while in the storm, but once you’ve made it through and look back, you realize that it made you stronger, more compassionate and strengthened your faith. 

Perhaps one day, you’ll have an opportunity to share your experience with someone who is suffering the same situation, and you will be a blessing to them.

Stay Strong,

Deb Hicks

Bowl of Splendor

Listen to this special rendition of the song I mentioned above done especially for all those in Texas that weathered the storms recently. 

Pause Button

   I haven’t really been able to blog much this past month. I feel like my inspiration flew out of me and perched itself on a far away tree branch. It’s not that I am sad or upset. I am sitting in a pause button mode. 

I’m like a character on a program and I just got stopped in mid air…a freeze frame. Everywhere I go I’m getting these deep thoughts watching my surroundings. If I wrote about them you would think I had flipped my lid. For example, right now I see a sweet slow elderly couple walking out of a restaurant. I pause to watch them. She is eating her ice cream cone. He is walking ahead watching out for her. I’m thinking if she only knew how that ice cream is made. I was just made aware by my daughter who works there. How long have they been married? Were they on a date? 

Lord, don’t let anyone ambush them. It’s dark and probably past their bedtime. I know it is mine. I whisper a prayer of protection over them. 

I’m now freeze framing them in my mind and coming up with my own dialogue about their life. 

 Lately, I have been saying “live in the moment“, “enjoy each day” as if to bottle it up and stick it in a jar. I want to keep it preserved on a shelf to pull down later and remember it all over again. See that’s my deep thinking!  

     It’s hard sometimes to let your kids go off to college when they have lived with you their whole life. It’s challenging to have them come back at times and refit back into their spot of departure. It’s disheartening to look at your youngest and know she too will be leaving soon to do the whole college thing. We know seasons change. We know it’s weird to stunt their growth and keep them in diapers. Can we not stick them in those same jars and neatly stack them on our shelf? These are all inevitable happenings of life. You can’t push the pause button here and stop the natural progression of life. 

So you ask what’s my point??
I think just a friendly reminder to……
Push the button and take a pause!

Stop and take time each day to notice new people, places and things. 

Nouns on Notice!!

Take delight in them and continue onward tucking away any new found discoveries. 

Push & Pause, 

Kelley Allison 

Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Psalm 37:4 “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Ocean Thoughts

Genesis 1:10

“And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called the Seas: and God saw that it was good.”

In the beginning God created and it was good. 
Sitting here on the beach watching the waves slowly roll in from the morning ocean make me agree that it is good. God gets an A+ on creating oceans. Especially this emerald green one with white sands in Destin, Florida. 

What if we just did a simple thing each day? 

We woke up and thanked God for just one thing that is good in our life. 

It is easy to focus on the things we lack or the things that are heading south in our life. This demands our thinking time to problem solve or heed attention to these life difficult situations. 

But what if we just offered up a thank you and focused on what is good and going right for a brief moment. Would it help us navigate through the tough road ahead of us? 

Would it put into perspective our current situation? Maybe not?
Could it be our mountain we face is the biggest we have ever climbed? 

Being thankful or grateful doesn’t dismiss our current hardship but it does create a space for us to look up and shine a light down on the messy space. It’s possible we could see different aspects of our problem we would have other wise missed with our head down and flashlight off. 

Look up and see the great oceans rolling waves up onto your shores of life. Put the scriptures of light on your situation and see who God can be for you during that time of crisis. 

And it was good. 

God is good. That’s the first space of agreement one must conquer to start your attitude of gratitude. 

Thanks on,

Kelley Allison 

http://www.bowlofsplendor.com

Psalm 118:1 “O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.”

VIP All Access Pass Holder

I am chosen.
I have access. 
I am holy. 
I belong to God. 
I praise Him. 
I come out of the darkness. 
I am in His wonderful light. 
I have a VIP All Access Pass. 

Ephesians 2:18 “For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”

1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

I think that I chose God, but in fact you chose me God! Thank you for choosing me. I received Christ as my Savior which gives me full access to the the Father. Jesus opened the Bridge that allows me to walk across to you God!!  

I have permission.
Daily remind me who I am in Christ. 
I am your daughter!!

All Access Pass Holder,

Kelley Allison 

http://www.bowlofsplendor.com 

You too can have full access to your Heavenly Father. 
“If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action].” I John 1:9 

Things Don’t Always Go As Planned

   I am quite upset today. I had to bury my new little feathery friend. 

Let me back up and start the story from the beginning. 

We have a bird nest high up above our front door under our porch covering. It belongs to a swallow couple and their babies. Every spring the mama and daddy bird come back and build their nest or use parts of their existing nest from the year before. Sometimes the nest is gone because the power washer destroyed it. Quite honestly, the birds and the nest showed up after my dad chased them away with his pokey contraption preventing them building their yearly nest. My dad had enough of the bird poop on his front porch and front door mat. So they relocated to my house across the street. 

We were happy to greet them and watch their babies hatch every year and fly off and start their own families. This year they had trouble after trouble. First the power washer guy accidentally sprayed their nest away with their baby eggs falling and breaking on our front door mat and exposing their underdeveloped selves. That was sad to see and I was so mad at the power washer guy. He immediately told my husband he was so sorry and said he tried to avoid it and it just exploded and fell. 

My husband and I watched the bird couple remake a new nest in less than 48 hours. New eggs were laid and a new family hatched. A fresh start and a total of five baby bird heads emerged  from the tiny nest!!  While I was gone on a vacation two baby birds had fallen out and were found dead under the nest. It was sad to see them not make it. Nature is the survival of the fittest is what they say. Well, another bird fell out and this time I saw it. I immediately made a new plastic nest complete with soft paper towels. I tied it up high on the window where the mom and dad could still feed him. That worked for about half a day when “Mr. Jump out of My Nest” decided he wanted out and landed on the ground again. 

I lowered his nest to the bottom level and he still didn’t like his nest. He wanted out!!! So I put the plastic nest on the ground. For two days we watched as the mom and dad dive bombed us to protect their baby. I kept an eye on him to see if he was still strong and flappy. He was walking around chirping with his mouth wide open begging for food. I tucked him into his bed at night and he flopped down with exhaustion. He woke up this morning perched in the regular spot at the edge of the step waiting for his food to swoop down and land in his mouth. 

Little did I know his parents were not giving him much to sustain him and he went from super strong  to laying down hardly moving in a matter of an hour. My daughter and I rushed him to the animal refuge thirty minutes away. He made it to minute 15 in the car and was gone. We turned around and gave him a nice burial in my backyard complete with a scripture reading and flowers to come. 

What’s the point of this silly blog about a bird?

God cares about everything in our lives. 

It didn’t feel so much like it at first. I have been praying over this bird, spending time with him and caring for his every need that I could.  

All for nothing it felt like to me. I was more upset than I expected and probably surprised my daughter with my emotional response to our bird battle lost and now buried. 

As I was cleaning up the bird poop off the front porch and sat scrubbing away all the places he had perched and rested. I was telling God it’s not fair. He brought life and didn’t protect it. This is not what I asked for and this is not the result I expected.  As I was scrubbing away,  I  thought of people who are watching their children die in hospitals, hospice, unfair tragic circumstances or just the heartaches that can find their way to our doorsteps. This is just a silly bird. 

How do these people cope with such tragic loss. 
Maybe they too prayed for a miracle only to not receive one. It doesn’t make sense to us in the natural. No one can fully explain how God works or doesn’t seem to work on our behalf. 

Quite honestly, I don’t think you can be comforted until the time is right for you to clear away the grief and be willing to hear the still small voice whispering to you. 

It’s God reaching out you to comfort you. 
We live in a fallen world full of brokenness brought in by sin. This was not God’s plan when He created us and the world. 
His plan is to bring life out of death and joy out of sorrow. As I continued wiping away the bird poop, I heard the whisper in my head. 

He can now fly forever.

You showed great love.  

Love never fails. ❤️

This is a time for me to reflect and receive comfort from above that God cares about everything that I care about. 

Thank you God for caring about me and my baby bird. 

~Kelley Allison

http://www.bowlofspendor.com 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 

3 To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven:

2 A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted,

3 A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up,

4 A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6 A time to get and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to cast away,

7 A time to rend and a time to sew, a time to keep silence and a time to speak,

8 A time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.