Hello, my name is Alyssa. I’m from a small town in PA and just graduated college from another small town in PA with a Psychology degree. Making music is my jam (see what I did there), and I adore the stars and wildflowers.
My friends call me AL. And they also call me a “dreamer.”
I wouldn’t disagree. My whole life, I have been coming up with random ideas, adventures, business plans, etc. that seemed a little bit out there and a whole lotta unrelated to the path I was setting myself up for. They were mostly things that I just thought would be super rad like owning a coffee shop or flower shop (or both), traveling the world and photo-documenting all of it, recording an album and going on tour, writing a book, marrying a surfer…? LOL, and living in a tiny house by the sea with a hairless cat and an abundance of cute plants, etc. I think most of us have dreams like this (maybe not the hairless cat one) – but I would talk about them allllll the time. Hence, why my friends considered me the “dreamer” of the group.
The past few years of my life I have fallen more deeply in love with God than ever before. I grew up in church and have had a relationship with the Lord for as long as I can remember, but in college, the Lord placed people in my life who really help to water that seed and this garden has been blooming and flourishing ever since. (S/o to my spirit filled friends who love the Lord so beautifully – y’all know who you are). Somewhere in that time, my dreams changed from accomplishing all of these things for my own entertainment to chasing after God. And this isn’t the kind of “chase” that people go on nonchalantly – this is the reckless kind. The kind that I would give up anything that was blocking me from pursuing my Father’s heart. The really cool thing though is this: I still do A LOT of dreaming. Only now, God comes alongside of me to give me dreams that will make an eternal impact. Not just a warm, bubbly feeling of accomplishment for 30 seconds. No, a real, eternal, non-fleeting impact.
My dreams of owning a coffee shop have morphed to running a ministry out of a coffee shop. My dreams of photo-documenting my travels have turned into writing powerful photo-essays that emphasize God’s beauty and His beautiful creations or cultural issues that need to be addressed. My dreams of recording an album and touring have morphed into sharing my testimony in crowded, broken places, such as bars, and then leading shattered souls into worship. (The “marrying a surfer dream” has vanished, unfortunately…)
A few months ago, I felt the Lord speaking to my heart something a little like this (give or take a few words): AL, you are too comfortable. (He calls me that because we are friends.) You have no need to depend on Me. You are fully fed each and every day. You have a squishy, comfortable mattress to sleep on every night. You have purified water, a warm home, a working vehicle to transport you. If you get sick, you can drive 15 minutes to the hospital and get medical support, and you know – the list goes on. The truth is, I have all of these things that keep me alive and going day to day. I know they are blessings from God, but I forget to recognize that when I don’t need to pray daily for His provision, because I just wake up each morning and “BOOM” there it is. To be honest, I am extremely ashamed of my ungratefulness and gluttonous ways. And I am turning away from them 1 million percent.
This adventure that I am embarking on is a God given dream. It’s a Kingdom dream that He has placed in my heart. To begin, I am saying “YES!” to being fully dependent on Him – recognizing that He will stir the hearts of many believers to financially make this Kingdom dream possible. I am so ready to leave all of this comfort, my snuggly bed and the convenience of having coffee each morning in my warm living room in exchange for a chance to learn to be fully dependent on God carrying me through uncomfortable situations like walking multiple miles in burning, humid weather to do ministry and share the gospel with people who have never heard. I am ready to grow and fall more in love with the Romancer of my soul. I am ready to encounter the Holy Spirit in ways that I have not yet. I am ready to be used as a vessel of God’s love to the least of these. I AM SO READY, Y’ALL.
So yep, my friends call me AL, a “dreamer,” but I like to think more of myself as a “Kingdom dreamer” because these dreams aren’t about me. They are about advancing God’s Kingdom. Without Him, they mean nothing.
