New News

immeasurably more

hi hi hi friends and family! 😘

Let me first start off by saying - thank you. thank you. thank you. all of the sweet comments and feedback from my first blog post made me feel so loved, humbled, and supported. I am so thankful for all of my friends and family who care so much about me and are willing to invest into my life.. it means more to me than you know.

***when you read any word that is in all caps - just imagine me saying it with a big smile on my face.***

In my first blog I had mentioned that this blog was almost done & ready to be published. I WAS SO WRONG. lol. Little did I know that God was going to show Himself and give me so much more to share with you guys about how CRAZY AWESOME He really is. like wow.

More recently, I have been looking back on old pictures of the past 4 years of life (this little thing called high school) & all the highs/lows that I've grown from, all the many memories I've shared with numerous people, & all the sleepless nights & early mornings.. I am able to say that I will miss it and am already missing it. In the moment, going to bed at 2 only to wake up at 5:30 was SO not fun, but I can say now, those were the good days - every English paper, every StuCo meeting, every quadratic equation, all the Friday night football games, and even the weekly vocab tests that I just could never seem to pass (lol)

In this picture (left) is me before I attended my first high school formal freshman year. It is so cool being able to look at it now & think of all that has happened since then. The picture on the right is graduation day. IM FINALLY DONE!! I could tell you the exact thoughts that were going through my head that day - “wow..Im actually done with high school” “this is it, I can’t believe it's over” “why am I not crying” “I'm starting college” “holy cow, I’m part of the real world now”

& today, I can tell you those same thoughts still apply, yet I know & firmly believe I have a God that is so much bigger than every worry that crosses my mind. As of May 30, I was attending Biola. Every ‘i’ was dotted, every ’t’ was crossed, every little detail was set for me to attend Biola in just 3 short months. But, I have a God who looked at every plan that I had made for myself & laughed.

So, with that said, within the past 3 weeks, Ally Dodd, has become, well.. Ally Dodd - someone who realizes and understands her worth, who is discovering her identity in Christ, who knows that her passions include people, photography, cooking, and traveling, and who is trying to live a faithful life according to who God has called her to be. A person that I look up to a lot and is a dear friend/mentor of mine asked me, "who is Ally Dodd?" and it was then that I realized I didn't have an answer. I had realized that my identity was lying in the people that I surrounded myself with. Today, I am able to write this in complete peace because I no longer live under the titles/expectations that I set upon myself or trying to be who everyone wanted me to be. I am who I am and who God created me to be, and I am so happy with that.

Please know now how incredibly difficult, humbling, and exciting these past 3 weeks have been on me. Because friends & family... I am now officially able to tell you that I WILL NOT be attending Biola this fall, but instead be moving to Napa and attending Napa Valley College. [wow! crazy, right?] At no point in time, ever, did I think that I would be attending a JC, or moving to Napa, or even NOT be pursing a degree in Kinesiology. After long talks with family and friends, and a WHOLE of prayer, I have realized that Biola is not where I am supposed to be this fall. Yes, it is where I want to end up (so I postponed my acceptance), but at the moment, I could feel God saying "no." For someone who thought she had her life almost all planned out, it was quite difficult when my plans were completely flipped upside down and around again... so when I say this past month has brought a lot of growth, I am so not joking. (lol)

It has been so cool to see God work in both the little things and the big things. These last 4 weeks have consisted of registering for classes, applying for jobs, searching for cars [if you know of anyone selling their car, please let me know 😉], and working on the blog :-) When it came time to register for classes, I had no idea how I would pay for them. I did have scholarship money, but because it was so late in the game, I had figured all the money had been sent to Biola and had been processed into my student account. BUT after just a few phone calls, my new 14.5 unit schedule at NVC was paid in full with just one of the scholarship I had received. Funny how all that worked out😉 Another thing that has been a main part of my move, was trying to find a church in the area. AND WOW DID GOD PROVIDE. Turns out & long story short, a church in the area (Hillside Community Church) is the home church of a couple that is from the Lodi/Stockton area and just so happens to know my brother & his fiancé, and a LOT of dear friends of mine - for those of you who may know them, it is Rachel & Nate Parrish. [again, mind-blowing and jaw dropping, right?!]

❖I love telling this story because it makes me smile SO BIG and because it proves how GREAT & SO COOL God is❖

There it is. The exciting life update is out & published 😊

Please know how extremely stoked I am to begin this journey but how extremely hard the decision was to not go to Biola. Like I said, Biola is where id like to transfer to {at the moment} but I know with a full & confident heart that it is not where I am called to be right now. & who knows, maybe God will change my heart again and ill end up somewhere else to pursue a degree!? who knows now - but I've got time & I've got a pretty awesome God, so I aint worried😉

thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I am so excited to continue to see how God uses me, this blog, and my story to connect, grow, and minister to people!

please, please, please feel free to leave comments/feedback!

with love - xoxox

ally dodd.