Well, Greetings and Salutations!!  Long time no post!!  ok, ok, REALLY long time, no post!

A brief update:

I am absolutely loving my job working with my elderly friends, of whom there are many!  There is one couple, a husband and wife, that I absolutely adore, and am so excited to be working for them privately for varied hours each week, starting this week!!  82 years old, and after 62 years of marriage they still love each other like the first time they met.  (They have  a very sweet story too, let me know if you want to know more.)  They are an incredible example of what it really means to love, cherish, devote, and commit yourself to your spouse.

I have been having a wonderful time preparing for and anticipating my trip to Kisumu, Kenya!!!  I can't believe it is only a month away!  We depart Nov. 2 from T.C.!!  It feels like there is a lot of preparing to do yet, but our leaders are wonderful, I think we will find ourselves as prepared as we can be!  Spiritually I am spending time in the word each day, using an outline of passages that one of our leaders made for us, as well as participating in a 40 day progressive fast.  Each week there is a new challenge that is to be carried out for the duration of the fast.  So far I have given up caffeine, sweets (yes, all sweets), T.V./movies/recorded music (a hard one!), and beef/pork.  I am about half way through.  We will have about two weeks before we leave to return to a normal diet.  I have also been preparing by trying to read through material for what we are going to be teaching while we are there.  Our meetings are very informative as to what to expect, we have two more left.

I am so excited to see all that God has in store for me to see, and learn, and discover about myself and His will for my life.  God is so good, all the time!!  If you want to be kept updated on things while I am in Kenya, leave me a note with your e-mail and I would be happy to respond.  Also, if you are interested in specific prayer requests, I can get those to you as well.

Thanks for reading, have a splendid first week of October, and may God bless you with his unfailing love, and His peace that passes all understanding!  Rest in Him and He will give you strength!

Ashley

Hey everyone!!  I AM still alive for those of you wondering...  Here are the general highlights of my trip.  I would first of all like to thank everyone who was praying for me while I was away.  God truly blessed the trip and I know it was a result of your prayers!  It was so awesome to watch Him working through others, to others, and for others through everyone who went.

My biggest prayer, as I mentioned in my last post, was just to be available and open with the teens, to form relationships with them, in hope of being an active witness and encourager to them in their walks with God.  It was so cool to see God create opportunities.  The following are some examples of how I got to be used by God and see this prayer answered.

One night I went for a walk with a girl who was from the other church that we went with.  It was sprinkling when we left.  We had a great chat and before we got back it had started down pouring and we sang "Awesome God"!  She talked about it the rest of the week and we got to know each other pretty well.

Another girl, whom I have known for a long time, had a horrible migraine.  She had forgotten to bring her medication and was worried that she would have to go to the doctor to get a shot to ease the pain (as she had had to do once in the past).  I prayed with her, brought her cold washcloths for her hot forehead, and a trash can (she felt very nauseous and puked once).  It turned out she was able to fall asleep and by morning was feeling much better.  I gave God the glory when she told me she was doing better and later that day she came over and gave me a big hug and thanked me for everything I had done.

I had a chance to have a conversation with another girl whom I have known for quite awhile.  We sat in her bunk and had a long honest and open conversation about a specific situation in her life.  When I challenged her, she told me she understood what I was saying but didn't want to follow my advice or worry about the concerns I had expressed to her (to which I told her I was glad for her honesty, and didn't press my case).  At the end of the trip she signed my tee shirt and wrote "You're my hero".  To God be the Glory!

One more scenario.  On our trip home, no more than 1/2 an hour into it, our charter bus came across a horrible accident.  Apparently a nine car pileup, that called for several ambulances and even a helicopter, was just ahead, less than a mile from us, holding up four lanes of traffic.  My heart was heavy for whoever was involved.  I felt that someone should step up to the microphone at the front of the bus and pray for the situation.  I spoke to the leader next to me and suggested the idea.  She began praying with me but while she prayed I knew this was not enough.  It was one of those moments where you can feel God tapping you on the shoulder and you know He knows you know its Him.  Without a shadow of a doubt I made my way to the front of the bus, asked everyone to bow their heads, and had the privilege to pray with the 40 people I had begun to form relationships with over the last six days. 

God is  so good... ALL the time.  Every moment.  Each of these examples seem so simple, but they were so powerful too.  I thank God for working through me and want to give Him the glory.  Nothing I say or do would be, if it weren't for Him.

Hello Everyone!  Just wanted to log real quick to tell you I am leaving.....TODAY for Biloxi Mississippi on a Mission Trip with the church where I have been teaching freshman youth!!  Don't feel bad if you are finding out about this for the first time and wondering why I didn't tell you!  It was news to me recently!  I thought I would have a conflict with getting time off of work, but Praise God my schedule is clear! 

I would really appreciate prayer.  Please pray (regarding the youth) 1)that I would  have the opportunity to form relationships with the youth that are going and 2) that I would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's promptings as to what to say.  For myself; that I would leave changed, molded more into the person God has made me to be, and that I would grow a deeper understanding for God's love, and rest in it.  Thank you so much to all of you!  I will be praying for you while I am away!  I will be back Thursday April 5.  GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!

"As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things."  Ecclesiastes 11:5

Praise God that He is too big, too amazing, too intricate for us to understand!!  I love you all, take care, I'll see you soon!  Peace!

Ashley

Wow.  Life.  I am just sitting here pondering... (a rare occasion for me).  Life is... interesting... to say the least. 

Sometimes it seems so simple and clear cut, this is usually when it is seen in light of the "big picture".  We live to serve God, to glorify Him, and to simply go about our days seeking His will.  When trials come along we are to hold on and He will deliver us as we wait patiently and trust Him.  This view is desirable but fades when we stumble and look at the details of our lives that seem so complicated.

The second view, which is where we tend to fall even after recognizing the first, always seems to be applied when something comes along that we don't understand.  We try to understand, and if we can't, we panic because suddenly we have lost control of our life.  In reality, of course, it never was in our control.  If we had everything under control we would have expected the situation, known how to handle it, and remained calm.  This is where God provides us with the opportunity to be reminded that HE is in control, He IS expecting everything that will come our way, and He DOES know how to deal with it!  Really its a beautiful thing...  And it brings us back to that happy image of us strolling through this brief period in our life before we reach heaven, of course not without trials, where we are less worried about what is going on becuase we know God has got everything under control and that we just have to keep on keepin on.

And then we say "yeah, but..." 

And God says "no, listen, pay attention now, for real yo (ok maybe not) I know what you're going through..." 

"No, God, seriously, listen to this..."  We begin explaining to Him (HA!!  Humans EXPLAINING to their CREATOR, hello?!?!  CREATOR we're talking about here, He only knows EVERYTHING!!) that its more complicated than He realizes because of this, that, and the other thing.

"My child, I know.......(listens while we ramble on).............. are you finished?.................  I love you, I made you, I even knew this was coming, I'm going to get you through it, I EVEN have a spectacular plan, just..........chill!!  (ok, maybe more like, calm down, everything WILL be ok)  and the best part is, you know why everything will be ok?  Because I wanted it to be, and because I said so."

"Trust in the Lord with all you heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."  Proverbs 3:5-6

I heard this song this morning on my way to work.   As I listened to the words and thought "Yes!  This is exactly what I was talking about in my last post!!"  Just thought these words really captured what I was trying to say.

There is a longing deep inside my soul
There is a place my spirit wants to go
It's far away from all these chains that bind
There is a world I long to leave behind

So, I wait and I wait
I wait for the moment when You come for me
And rescue my heart from the pain that it's seen
Troubles are circling all around me
And I can't stop thinking

CHORUS
Just a few more days
I'll be going home
Just a few more hours and
I'll be flying
It could be any minute now
That You take me away
Or maybe just a few more days
A few more days

To you a day is like a thousand years
And only you know when the clouds will clear
So, let me not forget and fall away
Because a thousand years could be today

So, I'll wait and I wait
And I wait for the moment
When you come for me
And rescue my heart from the pain that it's seen
My troubles are circling all around me I've got to remember

To You a day is like a thousand years
And only You know when the clouds will clear
So, let me not forget and fall away
Because a thousand years could be today