804 Spell St.

I have been out of touch for the past six months or so. I was in Monroe, La. in a spiritual ICU of sorts, called Mercy Ministries. God took me through a journey of hurt, severe pain, loneliness, loss, reconciliation, and finally on to the path of forgiveness and overcoming. Forgiveness and overcoming will be a road that I will continue on until the Lover of my soul will return for His bride.

It was never easy, but nothing life changing is. God completely rocked me down the the core, down to the foundation of my very being. I questioned who I was and who I was becoming. During my stay I faced giants of my past that I thought where buried. However, now, like David, I can say that I faced the giant, I killed him, and then I cut off his head...as to say that my giant(s) will never again be a stronghold over me.

Has it been hard since I have been home? I wish I could say no, but I can not. Why wouldn't it be hard though? Why would the enemy make it easy for me after facing and overcoming my biggest demons? I feel like I have fallen flat on my face since being home---but what do you do? You 1 John 1:9 it, and you get back up again. Brush your shoulders off and keep going. Stay in the word, and in worship. I am finally getting my joy back, and remembering that loving life is what it is about. God called us to love others. How can you love them when you are alone? (Some of you will get that.)

I can not express to you the gratitude I feel in my heart toward those friends that reached out to me during my time at Mercy. When I felt alone, it was your letters and (let us not forget) your phone calls to me that got me through the days. I appreciate you hanging in there and continuing to call when you kept getting "she is on the other line, call back in 9 minutes, or she is not taking phone calls today". Knowing that you were here to support me and were waiting for me to come back home was the extra push I needed to continue on.

I can not believe all the amazing people that I met while at Mercy, including the staff. You guys were the hands and feet of our Father. You reached out and were the arms of a loving God that surrounded me in comfort and love when I felt the most unaccepted. You showed me that I was one of His princesses. I will never forget the laughs we had, the never-ending prayers that you sent up to God on my behalf, or just the knowing smiles that we shared in passing. You guys helped change my life.

For my Mercy sisters...
Thank you for walking along side of me through my journey at Mercy Ministries. You encouraged me, you stood with me in prayer, you saw the tears fall, and the frustration explode. You never let me down, and most of all, you never let me stay down. The little notes that I would find in my notebook simply saying, "I love you and you're in my thoughts and prayers today", always made me smile, and still do when I come across them. You ladies are some of God's most magnificent creations. Of all the ones, He chose you! You were the ones called out and set apart. Yes, horrible things have happened to you. Unspeakable secrets you have had to carry your whole life, and painful hurts from the past have tried to destroy you...However, YOU are an overcomer! YOU are a BEAUTIFUL woman after God's own heart. He has set you free so you can, in turn, free others through Him. They are waiting. Be the woman that God has called you to be in the lives of those around you and you will change the world, one life at a time.

If anyone reading this has any further questions about Mercy Ministries or my stay there, please feel free to contact me. I would love to share with you any information I have on the place that God used to change my life.

Corrected Address

Hello Everyone!

This is a guest post from Alisha's friend, Gwen. After getting a note returned in the mail that I sent to Alisha last week, and after talking to her today (Saturday, April 18), we determined that the info she sent out before she left had transposed numbers. So, here's the correct address to send her mail.

Mercy Ministries

c/o Alisha Denham

P.O. Box 3028

Monroe, LA 71210

For packages, use the physical address:

Mercy Ministries

c/o Alisha Denham

804 Spell Street

West Monroe, LA 71292

She sounds great...she's learning much, and please keep her in your prayers!!

If not for Mercy...

For those of you who know me, and know me well...you know my struggles and triumphs. You have been with me through the ups and downs of this roller coaster ride I call my life. You have seen who I really am and you have loved me regardless. Thank you for that, I will never forget those of you who have helped me along the way. I can only strive to repay the boundless love that I have felt from you.

This Thursday I will began a new chapter in my life, working with Mercy Ministries for the next six months. I will be there to continue on my journey of healing, learning, spiritual growth, and hopefully helping others who need a shoulder to lean on. Please pray for me when you think about me. Pray that God will keep His hand on me, and those that I will potentially help along the way. Pray for peace and guidance, and finally pray for a new understanding in who I am in Him. I am searching for a new breath of this great love that God has for each of it, and I am determined to share it with a world that is hurting and in need of Him.

Again, thank you for all of your love and support. I will keep you in my heart, and in my prayers.

I love you.

This is the mailing address that you can contact me at while I am at Mercy Ministries. Please feel free to write me when you get a chance, and pray for me when you think about it. I will be looking forward to hearing from you! I will also write back and keep you posted on progress and how God is moving in my life while I am there! Also, you can call the number below on Saturdays from 12PM-8PM (central time) and ask for me. I can place calls on Sundays, however, I will be using a calling card, so it would be easier for you to call me. Feel free to. I will miss you, and can't wait to hear from you!

Trusting in Him,
Alisha

Mercy Ministries
c/o Alisha Denham
PO Box 2038
Monroe, LA 71210

Phone #: 318-388-2040

Not for the faint of heart!

For those of you who have the honor of knowing me well, you know that I LOVE tattoos and piercings! I recently got a new tattoo of a puzzle piece which is also a lock with a key sticking out of it. I got it for my own personal struggles and the mystery of the journey that is ahead of me. All of my tattoos have special meanings and purposes to me. However, my piercing are a different story. I mostly get them because I love the process of piercings. As it stands I currently have thirteen piercings...now, I know that that sounds like a lot, but come on...in today's world, not really. LOL!

I am blogging today to tell you about my most recent trip to the tattoo studio to get my most newest piercings, my dimples. I went to the piercer with what I thought was a firm grasp on what I wanted to do. Simple, make the dots on my face with a marker, stick the needle through, pull the taper behind, put the jewelry in, and BAM! New studs in my cheeks! EASY AS 1...2...3...!

WRONG!

When I told the piercer what I wanted he proceeded to tell me every reason why I should not pursue these piercings. He said that they would be the most controversial piercings that I would ever have (and boy, was he right, you should see the looks I get...it's awesome). He said that it would take at least 4 months for them to heal and it would be a long process. He said that there would also be a possibility of hitting a saliva duct in my mouth and cause the piercing to stay wet. He went on, and on, and on, about the process of piercing them and what could happen if I wasn't careful with them in the healing process! I mean come on dude, do you want to make some money today or not?!

Finally, after all the do's and don't's he finally pulled out the goods and began the process of the piercings. He marked my dimples with a sharpie, measured the inside of my cheeks, the outside of my cheeks, from my ear to my dimples and so on, and so on. This process went on for 20 mins. I swear he was OCD! Then I laid down, he counted to three and boom.... the needle was in. Then, the taper, then the jewelry through the taper and finally, right side done! I thought "that wasn't so bad". I've had worse. The process continued on my left side and then I was laying down again. 1...2...3...and much slower this time, the needle was in. Then, the taper. I'm not sure why but he was moving much slower this time...and I began to feel something wet and warm dripping down my cheek...it was blood! Awesome right, NOT! I was like, "Ummmmm, could you....like, help me out here?!" Finally, the jewelry was in and the bleeding stopped.

I asked him why he was taking longer, and he said that he wanted it to perfectly match the right side. So, in the end, the final product was two perfectly matching piercings in my dimples. His OCD paid off! On a scale of 1 to 10, the pain level was about a 4, and only because of the blood dripping down my check. If you ask me though, that was a small price to pay for my uniqueness. Oh, and it was not until after everything was over that he told me that he had to go through an inch of skin to get the jewelry in! GROSS!

The little one that goes....!

My family has had the opportunity over the last few days to serve as a transitional home for there new foster child. He is currently awaiting a new "forever family" and my mom and dad get to spend time with him in between! He is an amazing child. Although, even on my best of days I couldn't compare with his energy level! He is non-stop 24/7, go....go....go....go....go! And talks until your ears bleed! However, he is also one on the most intelligent little boys that I have ever met! He truly is a joy to have as part of the family, even if only for a little while.

"Thank you God for using my family as a safe place for these children!"

Redemption...

Silence echoes through the darkness. It screams the truth, the truth that words can not express.

It whispers to me softly...I'm broken down again.

I pray to dream again but all I can think is that I want something else to get me through this life.

Time will heal this heart.

And today...I will push through this moment. Freedom is just out of reach, but I will hold on. I will cling to my rock of safety and reach out with the other hand to the unknown.

Can I trust what I can not see?

Letting go with both hands prove to much, but I know that from wounded hands raised high, redemption will fall.

Make me clean again.





*I have had a rough few days, and this was just something that I scribbled down on a piece of paper today.*

Yeah...I'm bad!

So, last Saturday and Sunday was exciting, lots of fun, and stressful all at the same time! My mom, dad, and I all took a rider-skill training course to get our motorcycle endorsement for our motorcycle licences. Until Saturday I had only been on one motorcycle and that was last September when I rode with my uncle in Texas. I was super excited to take the class but scared to death that I was going to drop the bike or something. The motorcycle that the class provided me with to learn on was a small Honda Rebel 250 (basically a step up from a dirt bike), if you were to actually ride this bike on the rode you would probably get ran over! Below is a picture of the bike I learned how to drive last weekend.

Being as tall as I am my knees were up to my chest! But hey, it was a motorcycle! It capped out at 80ish, so try that on the interstate!

We spent the first part of Saturday morning in the class room learning about all the switches, gauges, and proper riding attire. It was good to know before getting on the bikes, but I was anxious to ride! After lunch, I got my chance! When we first sat down on the bikes to start them up for the first time I was excited but also scared to death! I have a healthy respect for motorcycles and didn't want to be the first one to make a fool out of myself by dropping (even though it was small it still weighed about 400lbs) it or running into someone. They talked us through turning it on all the way to actually riding it across the parking lot within an hour. I was amazed, and proud! We rode for about four hours preforming exercises and maneuvers. Around 4:30 we were done for the day, and boy was I grateful! My butt was getting sore from four hours of riding.

Sunday was even more stressful than the day before! Not only did we have to remember everything from the previous day, but we also had to take a written test and a driving test! For those of you that know me, you know how well I usually do on test! Again we spent the first part of the morning in the class room and taking the written exam, which by the way I passed with flying colors. By 10:30 am we were back on the bikes for a few hours of exercises and riding before lunch. By lunch time I was a nervous wreck---knowing that my performance exam was looming over head.

After we returned from lunch we spent the next four hours riding on the bikes, learning how to roll, press, look, and turn, avoiding objects in the road, running over boards, swerving in and out of cones, learning how to slam on the breaks to avoid an object (without flipping over the handlebars), and keeping our head up (which is imperative to riding a motorcycle). By 4:30 or so it was test time...dum, dum, dum! There were 12 people in my class and believe it or not I was the last one in line to take my exam! It gave me time to watch everyone else go through there test, but it also allowed for me to let my nerves get the best of me. The test consisted of various maneuvers that we had preformed through out the last two days. Most of them were easy, but some....a little more tricky. I watched as one by one everyone aced there test, including my mom and dad. Side note: EVERYONE cheered for my mom after every passed exercise, it was great! All I could think of was..."If my mom passes and I fail, I am never going to live it down". After about 20 grueling minutes of watching everyone else go through the exercises I was on my way through each obstacle (with everyone--who had passed---watching). One-by-one I achieved every part of the test placed in front of me and I was standing with the victors!

EVERYONE in my class passed! That should tell you something about the instructors! By the end of day two (keeping in mind that I had never driven a motorcycle) I was riding without even thinking about what I was doing! Below is a picture of my endorsement.

Now all I have to do is go to the drivers licences office, give it to them, and BAM! I can legally drive a motorcycle on the road. Not saying that I would without a little more practice but I am well on my way to being a motorcycle owning, riding, mama! Look out guys, here I come! For all of you that want to ride, check out this website: http://www.bikertraining.net/. I can't imagine any better teachers! I look forward to seeing you out there!