What’s Your Story?

God is moving among theAlley community and we want to know what your story is!  Would you be willing to share a little bit of how God has been moving in your life?  We’d love to hear from you.  Just fill out the form below and let us know what God has been up to.

The Problem With Evil

09.11.11 – the problem with evil

Lent 2011 Teachings

03.16.11 – Belong

My Car Broke Down, Praise the Lord!

Blog, submitted by Jon Schommer

A few days ago, my 17 year old car lost power and quit running. When I tried to re-start it … nothing … not even a growl, a click, or a sound. My first thought was, “Well, that’s it. Time for a new car.” My second thought was, “Hmm, how do I get help?” And that is when the blessings started…

Blessing 1:

A repair shop was located directly across the street from where my car died. I simply lifted the hood on the car, walked across the street, pointed to my car and said, “Hi. See that car with the hood up? Could you fix it please?” No problem. Within 5 minutes the car was in the garage and I took the short, 3 minute walk back to my office.

Blessing 2:

How to get home tonight? My secretary informed me that a relatively new employee who works on our floor lives within a couple of miles of my home and was ready to give me a ride home any time I was ready to go.

Blessing 3:

Our car pool home was delightful. In our half-hour commute, we were taking about things of eternal importance.

Blessing 4:

The next day, my car was repaired and the cost of the repair was much less than expected. After diagnosing some wiring that broke, they were able to replace it and restore it to the way it was supposed to be.

Blessing 5:

On my drive home, my volt meter reading in the dash of the car was in the “full power” range where it is supposed to be. For as long as I owned this car (17 years) that volt meter was running in the orange range (under charging). I asked mechanic after mechanic to look for the faulty wiring but to no avail. For 17 years, I accepted this defect as just part of the way the car was. The car was drivable, but I had to replace batteries and alternators often. I rarely ran the radio, air conditioner, or heater fan on the car to help save battery power. I tried to keep my lights off as much as possible since they would drain battery power. But now, my car was restored to full power!

Blessing 6:

Through this, I learned a lesson. What had happened when my car broke down was that the faulty wire finally was fully broken. When it was replaced it became fully restored. That restoration brought back the whole electrical system of the car back into harmony and to the function for which it was designed. We all have “faulty wiring” in our spiritual lives that we tend to accept because we think that we can function alright that way. But to be restored to full power, we need to be completely broken. When we come to repentance, God is always there … the repair shop is right across the street, he provides others to accompany us on our journey, and he knows exactly how to fix us. When we are fully broken through repentance, God gives us new wiring in which His power (not ours) can now flow. And when that happens, look out … our volt meters will be functioning on full power!

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5

meet the blogger: jon schommer

Jon Schommer grew up in Calumetville, Wisconsin (dairy farm country) and currently lives in Woodbury, Minnesota. He has been married for 21 years to Lisa and they have two children; Dave aged 16 and Emily 14. Jon’s hobbies include gardening and hiking. During the summer, he enjoys golfing once or twice and during the winter he enjoys ice fishing a few times. Jon earned his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and currently is a professor at the University of Minnesota.

Angels, sandwiches and an apology.

A number of you have been asking me when the Angel posts are going to start.  I apologize that they haven’t already been up and ask your patience.  The upcoming Sandwich event and a few other unforeseen schedule changes in my world have made it hard for me to find the time to get them ready.

I promise that I won’t abandon the project but can’t promise an exact release date.  Thanks everyone for your patience.

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