The Basics:
- I am 21 years old and from Duluth, Georgia.
- My parents are Tommy and Maria Blackwell. I am blessed to have parents that are still so in love after more than 25 years of marriage! I am so thankful to have their love and support throughout my life!
- My brother’s name is Adam and he is 19 years old. We are as opposite as it can get, but I am so thankful that we have grown to love each other for those differences. He is such an incredible blessing in my life and I couldn’t ask for a better brother!
- I am graduating from Shorter University in May of 2012. I am a Middle Grades Education major.
- My friends in Rome and Duluth are a HUGE part of my life. I would not be who I am if I were not blessed with their love and laughter! I am so thankful for every memory I have and thank God continually for blessing me so much!
The most important part of who I am:
I am blessed to have been raised in the church. My parents started taking me to church when I was 2 and I accepted Christ into my heart when I was 7. From there on out, I was your typical happy, sweet, innocent Christian girl. But there was something off in my life. Through awful eating habits and little activity, I became overweight at 8. This may seem random and out of place, but trust me, it’s a huge part of my testimony. With being overweight so young, I was made fun of quite a bit and it started to affect my worth more than I ever let on. I covered up every hurt and was able to ALWAYS have a smile on my face. There is nothing wrong this, but when you use that smile to convince yourself that everything is okay, then there is problem. I was broken and hurting but I figured that since I was a Christian, had great family and friends, that I was good.
Throughout middle and high school I was blessed to have incredible friends that loved me no matter what I weighed. But my weight only got worse. I was over 200 pounds before entering high school and I was clinically obese all throughout high school. I just figured I was destined to be the “big girl”. No problem, right? I could not have been more wrong. You see, food had become an idol in my life. I used food to fill every longing in my heart. You name it, food was the answer. Instead of running to my Savior for comfort, love, acceptance, worth and every other need, I ran to food. I was blind to the fact that there was anything wrong. I was a Christian, right? I didn’t cuss, drink, smoke, party, have sex, so I was doing everything right. Once again, I could not have been more wrong. To the world’s standards and I was a great girl that just happened to be obese. In reality, I was chained in a sin that our society has deemed acceptable and had become addicted to food.
Then I entered college at Shorter and absolutely loved it! I am so thankful for the path the Lord took me on to lead me there. He knew exactly what He was doing. Surprised? Heck no! I met so many incredible people that have impacted me in the most amazing ways! With this newfound lifestyle though comes freedom to eat whatever, whenever and however you want. Beautiful. Oh wait, freshman Ally is addicted to food and is blind to it. Not so beautiful. That not so beautiful addiction turned into gaining 40 pounds on my already obese body in one year. Those extra 40 pounds moved me to finally feel uncomfortable in my own skin. My whole life I thought I was fine being obese until these additional pounds moved me to be considered morbidly obese. Yes, as in I could have been a contestant on the Biggest Loser. But looking back now, I am so thankful for those 40 pounds. I am so thankful that the Lord can use something like weight gain to wake us up.
So in October of 2009 and at the start of my sophomore year of college, I knew something had to change. My mom had started Weight Watchers the week before and had asked if she would do it with me. We’d done Weight Watchers many times before, so I wasn’t really looking for anything different than the usual. I could not have been more wrong. When I started Weight Watchers that week, I knew it was what I was supposed to be doing. I finally felt in control and like I was doing something good for myself. I also started a program called Couch to 5k (now called Ease into a 5k) to start running. I had never run in my life and being morbidly obese doesn’t make it easy, but this program and Weight Watchers was perfect for me. The weight was melting off and I felt different than I ever had before. I liked making changed and eating healthy. What? Who is that girl? I loved looking in magazines for the best foods and workouts. I loved it. But do you something wrong here? Do you see God at all in the paragraph? I don’t either and it’s because I was in control. I had this whole weight thing figured out. Yes, I had been morbidly obese which means I obviously had a food issue, but now it was going great. I was going to get to a healthy weight for the first time since I was 8 and all of my dreams would come true. I would be happy.
I could not have been more wrong. The more weight I lost and the more I found my worth in what I weighed, the emptier and unhappier I got. Yes, I had a smile on the whole time and never let on, but I was at the darkest place in my life. I had lost 90 pounds, wasn’t this supposed to be the answer to everything? You see, when I no longer let myself have food as an idol, I created another idol in weight loss and health. Both are wonderful things, but my sinful nature had distorted them and they became everything to me.
And here’s when everything changes.
I went to the Passion Conference on January 1st-4th of 2011 and God rocked my life. Every day of that conference, God showed Himself to me in a new way. I was experiencing Him in a completely different way. For the first time in my life, I wanted to know Jesus more and have a relationship with Him. I was tired of living a lukewarm, easy Christian life. The Lord showed me that He was all I need. I had been chasing all of these different worldly things to fill a void in my heart while all along, He was the only One who could fill it. He loved me and He had come to set me free from all the things I sought. He showed me just how trapped in sin I was and just how desperately He wanted me free.
Not a bad way to start 2011 is it?
So 2011 was the most eye-opening, life changing year of my life. My relationship with Christ has grown dramatically from this time last year and I can’t thank the Lord enough for pursuing my wondering heart through every moment of my life. He was constantly coming after me and showing me that this world will never, ever fill me. Yes, I am blessed, but for His glory alone.
One of my favorite verses is Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crown of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip down every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”
God has called us to freedom. Isn’t that beautiful? The Creator of everything wants us to be free. Free to love Him and free to live the life He wants for us. Ephesians 2:20 says “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.”
I am so thankful for the journey God has taken me on to get to the World Race. I have no idea what He is going to do and that is just amazing!
If you have read this far, you deserve some sort of medal!
