Royalty::My Daddy is the King of Kings

Still a Fishy

2008-01-16T22:46:00.000-08:00

So school is back in. Journey with me, if you will, on the first week of mine.

I'm still classified as a Freshman for another 13 hours, which will be done at the end of this semester. I'm ready to be a sophomore. At age 21, it is assumed that I'm a slacker. I took 4 years off and while I may LOOK like the average freshman (I think not) when people ask me my "classification" (which in high school was considered my "grade") I still must say (to my dismay) "Freshman."

As a freshman, at age 21, I have gained the freshman 15 that we've all heard about. I also gained that when I graduated high school. So a total of 30 since high school. I hold no grudges against my body believing I'm a freshman twice. I mean, I did send it spiraling into a misconception that I was a college freshman twice. I did take 1 class... 3 1/2 years ago. So it is MY fault. But the sadness of slipping into a jean size almost half my age when I'm used to it being the size of my age at Kindergarten (5)... now that's sad. But nonetheless, this blog is not aimed to fish for compliments because I am happy with the curves I was blessed with.

I begin my journey on a Monday at 7:45. Enter Spanish class. I will learn to love the people in this class for I will see them 4 times a week for the next few months as they listen to me attempt to speak a language so far from my native tongue my chihuahua can speak it better than I.

First day seems to be going good. I go have lunch with my darling roommate whom I've pet named "Kiki" since high school for reasons beyond my knowledge. I go home and grab my books for the next class and head off to the next momentary intake of facts. As I'm driving to Blinn jamming out to my new favorite song "Beautiful" by Bethany Dillon, I glanced at my schedule to see the building I will be gracing with my presence so as to know where to park on the HUMONGOUS campus of Blinn.

"Wait, there's no building letter" I think to myself.
So I proceed to do what every other FRESHMAN would do and call up to Blinn and find out what's really goin on. The woman proceeds to tell me, 15 MINUTES BEFORE MY CLASS, mind you, that is on the A&M campus. Now, if you know me, you know I have no knowledge whatsoever of that campus because I aim to be a Texas Longhorn so WHY EVER would I set foot on the fiery furnace that is A&M campus? I immediately panic.

"What did you do to me?" I asked Ryan... He and Garrett recommended this teacher to me.
"I don't know where on A&M this class is"
Ryan then tells me that it was at Blinn when he attended. SO I call EVERYONE that I know at A&M and no one answers and one who does tells me that it's on the west campus..... and I'm supposed to know that.

"Mommy.... where's West campus and how do I get there?"
my mother used to work at A&M and she now lives in Mexico. She helped me. Courtney called me back and told me where to catch the bus. I pass through my old place of employment to grab a beverage. Caramel Macchiatto to be exact and I get it on the house thanks to the lovely Jen who loves me so much! So one and a half hours, one free Caramel Macchiatto, and my first A&M bus ride later, I reach my destination. I was relieved but... class was over.

Have I mentioned HOW BEAUTIFUL a man in a Corps uniform is? Wow, I mean, minus the little cafeteria lookin' hat (what's up with that) Corps boys have got it goin on.

So since I get to see this everyday walking to class, I have no complaints. All in all, it's been a pretty fun adventurous week. All I can say is Gig 'Em Corps Boys and HOOK 'EM HORNS!!!

Happy 21st to me!

2007-12-05T07:32:00.000-08:00

PRESS PLAY FIRST BEFORE READING!!!!!!

Happy 21st Birthday me!!!

This isn't why I'm writing though. I'm writing because I am thankful. My mom sent me this song this morning and said "My present to you is all the stars in the sky so when you look at them tonight, so will I and we weill be together." She lives in Mexico.

I just want to say I'm thankful for the stars. I'm thankful for friends who care. I'm thankful for a loving God who doesn't give up on us when we've made our millionth mistake. I'm thankful for my puppy, my family and my job.

I'm thankful for new friends and old. I'm thankful for the ones who keep me accountable, the ones who build me up. I'm thankful that I've been in love. I'm thankful for laughter. I'm thankful for when lost friends are saved.

I'm thankful for the facial and massage I'm about to get :)
I'm thankful for all the new friends I've made this year (see previous post). I'm thankful for food and shelter. I am definitely thankful for this country where we freely serve the God we love. I'm thankful for the martyrs who give their life for God.
I am thankful for turquoise and dolphins, macaroni and cheese, chinese food, decorations, ice skating, LONGHORNS, otters, my favorite bands, band aids, windex. I'm thankful for dirt, stickers, milk, books, shoes, clothes, jewelry. I'm thankful for HAIR DYE! I'm thankful for scarves, cold weather, hot weather, the beach, the Bible, I'm thankful for the first time I saw my parents, the first time I went to Living Hope, the first time I met you.

I'm thankful for Six Flags, car insurance, college, smells, my ipod, SHANE AND SHANE!, I'm thankful for the internet :)

I'm thankful for Butch and his honesty and love for the Body.
I'm thankful for the fact that I have all these things and some others out there aren't as fortunate. But I'm also thankful for hope. I'm thankful that all these things don't matter. I'm thankful for THE PROMISE! I'm thankful for HEAVEN and the FUTURE and JESUS' BLOOD! Thank you Lord!!!

Psalm 25:7

Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.

Ecclesiastes 11:9
Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.

Psalm 118:24
This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Long lost friends and new acquaintances

2007-10-30T21:32:00.001-07:00

Oh man how I miss some old friends!

It's so good to see long lost friends.

It's really hard when people lose touch. Especially ones who were so close! Tiffany and K Lowe and I were all best buds. It's just been way too long. I've been talking to them a little more and I just wanted to rejoice for my time I get to spend with them (even if it's on the phone) they are truly amazing girls and I love them!

But I have to say I have acquired some amazing new buddies too. Here's a few I've gained over the past 6 months or so....

My new roomies, Kyndall Rutherford, Amanda White, Courtney Gainer, Kim Sarmiento (not pictured) and Kirsten Wingate

and my new dear dear brothers who look after me :) I love you guys!

Garrett (Who I determined was a "fungi" (fun-guy) today) and Ryan Wilson

and Chris Godwin

and Paul Smith

Miss Bailey Brown

Danielle Aviles, and Ashley Norville (pictured below)

And all of us playing Sewer Rats ("The grass is LAVA!!!")

Dear Chadley

and had to throw this one in of my cute little nieces (minus Mattie). I regret to infor you all that I don't have a picture of my dear Maddie Worley but hopefully soon I will be posting one.

Prayer works

2007-10-22T20:48:00.000-07:00

I just want to share with everyone what happened last night.

I have been in somewhat of a valley lately. I'm in one of those low times where I feel like God is soooooo far away from me. I feel like no matter how I reached for Him, I wasn't trying hard enough. I felt like He had given up on me. But I had always heard others say He never gives up so I knew that wasn't true.
So I prayed. I prayed for God to show me what I needed to do to get back to that relationship we had in the beginning. When I was totally intoxicated in love with Jesus. I wanted to run toward Him but I was mentally, emotionally and spiritually drained. I was trying to do everything on my own. My life had become VERY religious and not very relational. I told God I didn't know what it looked like to give my life over to Him and give Him all my junk to take care of. I wanted to trade my ashes for beauty (Isa. 61:1-3) but I didn't know how. So I asked Him to show me.

I have put off my homework for the entire weekend and on Monday night at 7:30 when I sit down to do my homework, I get this overwhelming feeling of massive stress hit me in the face. So I go to my room and pray for a minute and God says... "put it off some more, go to Ignite." For those of you who don't know, Ignite is an on campus Monday night meeting of worship and lesson for on or off campus people. So I say to God "but I have so much homework" and He says "I don't care, go to Ignite." So I go.
So I get there and they jump right into the lesson. No music, no singing to the Lord which (if you haven't been) is amazing at Ignite. So the selfish me was saying "I wanted to worship God, I wanted to sing to Him, I I I I..." and then I said to myself... "Self, shutup, God brought you here for a reason."
So I listen with a lot of anxiousness about my homework. and the lesson is about "The way we should then walk" and suddenly my prayer...

My prayer comes back to me and I see that God wanted me here at this very moment to hear what he wanted of me. Will (the speaker) was saying how walking with God wasn't hard, it was very simple but we make it hard because we have all these other things that we don't want to give up because selfishly we are seeking after our own motives and desires. All that walking with God requires is obeying Him. Now, I have a hard time fathoming this concept because I never was one to behave from the time I was like 1 up until today when I turned in homework late. We're sinners. It's engraved in our soul. But you know what??? Our sins our engraved in Jesus' hands. We don't have to have tremendous guilt weighing on us because Jesus conquered it all. Jesus is the only way. Jesus is the reason. We cannot sit here for one second and think "I can conquer that addiction, i can give those things up" NO! Jesus though, JESUS has the power to conquer those things for us! And He already has, we just have to trust Him. He talked about how walking with God is a sweet, sweet thing. He said "What do friends do? What do lovers do? They walk" and it's not a boring walk. You don't JUST walk. You walk and talk and grow and love and seek and experience and hope for more.
He said that we don't just stand in front of a pathway and dissect it and think of all these ways around it. If there's a path in front of us it doesn't mean just stand there and stare. We take it don't we?
He also talked about how if our fleshly dad asked us to do something like take out the trash, we wouldn't ask him the who what why where when and how. That would get annoying. In the same way we should obey our heavenly Daddy. And he'll ask us to do much more adventurous things than taking out the trash :)

I wish I had the specific scriptures he quoted. I came unprepared and didn't write anything down but man, there is powerful stuff in the word of God. I should've written this last night when it was all so fresh in my mind because now I feel like I'm getting no where with this and my brain is quickly turning to mush. It's almost 1 am and I'm sleepy and I should go to sleep.

But let me just share this.

God called me to break up with John last night. I didn't want to and I'm still kind of bummed about it all. But I know it was right. And I did it. It feels good to take a step in obedience. I feel good knowing I've at least taken one step with my God.

You can check Ignite out at http://www.igniteministries.org
Or come with me on Monday nights at 7:30!

G'nite y'all!

Matrimonial Bliss

2007-10-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

4 MONTHS??? 4 months since my last blog. That's ridiculous. I should be beaten. This one is just to show MY love to the newly married/about to be married people that are in my life. I guess October and November are happenin months for people to get married because I have 4 to go to.
One of which I am a bridesmaid in, today!
A couple weeks ago was my brothers to his BEAUTIFUL bride and one of my closest friends. Presenting Chris and Rachel Driskell

Today is the wedding of Justin and Katherine Joslin

Next weekend I will be attending the wedding of my best friend from High School. Victoria Englemann and Tony Ruiz

And another very near and dear set of friends, Leslie Simpson and Brett Carsey who will be wed on Nov 10th

And my dearest Momo, bestest guy friend EVER!... Brian Patrick Moran and Jen Worley are getting married in Nov.

I just want to tell you all how VERY much you mean to me! I love you and wish all of you long and extremely happy lives. And I hope to be a part of them all. I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOUR BABIES HAHA!!!!
Love you guys!

~Ash

Just another girly girl

2007-06-29T12:19:00.000-07:00

I've gotten to know myself a lot better this year. I think it comes with age. We begin to find who we really are. It also comes from spiritual maturity. We begin to learn our value because of what Jesus did for us.
Through the year I've found so many new hobbies and passions. A lot of people look at me and think I'm not a very big girly girl. Even close friends. One time my sister told me "you need to be more feminine." Just because I don't walk around on my tiptoes so my calves stay toned, or have mani/pedi days at the spa or try the atkins/south beach/or just not eating diets (cause I love food!)doesn't mean I'm not just as feminine as the next girl.
I do admit... I've always gotten along with boys better. Because the girls I grew up with were catty. I like to talk about music and joke around and I don't hold my burps (well, I have a little bit more lately) and I talk about boogers. I mean, whats wrong with that? Girls don't talk about music (except my wonderful Claire and my new dear friend Erin Elise). They hold they're burps (except Jenny) and they certainly don't talk about boogers (except my 5 and 6 year old nieces.) But I like to talk about makeup and hair and boys and my relationship with the Lord and what he's teaching me (guys talk about that too, don't get me wrong.) Here I go... it's beginning to sound like I'm babbling. Run on paragraph, eh? Sorry. Anyways....
Here are a few things I've discovered about myself, and just things in general, over the last year.

Some of my favorite things to do are:
Curl up with a good book in my living room with my beautiful flowers outside the window.
I love to stare at art.

take a walk in the park by my house.
listen to soothing music before I go to bed.
Discover new recipes that I (YES, ME) can cook.
Read Spin or Blender magazine (music).
Introduce people to new music.

I've discovered that...
I cry during movies, songs and church. Whether they're sad tears or joyous tears.
I have in fact had my heart broken.
I try to find ways to be different than every other average Joe.
I like to think about the "good ol' days"
It's in those times I think about my mom's china
And climbing the trees outside my house in Washington.

My favorite tea is chai tea. For some reason the smell and taste just make me so happy.
My best friend is my 13 year old cat, Pookie.
My favorite movie (and soundtrack) is Elizabethtown. If you haven't seen it... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!!

I'm a romantic... BIG TIME.
I like poetry, stars and eyes.

I miss my family. I wish we had been more close-knit.

I love Austin, TX and I will be moving there... one day.

I've learned that I have the most amazing group of friends and I'm tearing up just writing that. I love y'all. I'm truly thankful for everything I'm blessed with.

The F words.

2007-06-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

So This blog is going to be particularly random. I have 3 different things to talk about and I dont feel like doing a seperate blog for each. So I will start out with the first of 3 essential F words...
Play this song while you read

Fascination
Last week, (before the cloud watching day) I had been praying for God to just fascinate me. To show me how truly fascinating He is. The Song of Solomon study I am going through talks about the 7 longings of our hearts and how if we don't look to God to satisfy those longings then we will find another way to satisfy them, usually resulting in sin. One of the longings is fascination. So, I was praying about it and WOW.... Did He ever fascinate me?! First the clouds. Then I was at home one night and Whitney (one of the roomies) and I were talking about how amazing the Lord is. We just started talking about heaven and how the Bible says that there are colors that we will see that we have never even seen before. (I can't remember for the life of me where it is in scripture) I’m just gonna let you marinate on that for a minute.
Colors.
We’ve never seen.
We are incapable of imagining what they look like.
Can you even wrap your brain around that? I mean we don’t understand. We could think all day… “well, what if its turqu… oh no that already exists. What if it’s like a purple… nope that’s already been done.” Go outside. Or even just look around you. DO YOU REALIZE…. There are millions… BILLIONS of different colors in the room (or in nature) around you. I mean… Just look at MY HAIR and you have like 5 million different colors right there! Ha! No but really, how amazing and awesome and fantastic is that. My favorite color is turquoise. And hot pink. I’ll have SOOOOOO many more to chose from later!! Wow. He is so worthy of all of our praise. Because we give Him junk. We give Him ashes, He gives us beauty. He doesn’t NEED us. Good grief He made the stones cry out. But He wants us and He has (even after giving us His precious Son) so many more gifts to give us!

Fear
John Fox brought to my attention the Fear of the Lord this week. It literally changed my life.
He said something that, at first, struck me as weird and discomforted me. But… then I thought about it and… well, I’ll just tell you.
He said he’d been running lately so his physique had changed. He was admiring himself in the mirror and all of a sudden he got this pain in his back. Then he realized he was being vain. He totally believes that God gave him that pain to be like “no sir… vanity is not ok.” So John was saying how God is the great I AM, He is a jealous God and He has the power to strike us dead if He wills. I was just like ehhh… but He is so gracious. Which YES, praise Him, He is gracious, BUT let’s not forget about all the other qualities he has. Jealousy, Wrath, Mercy, Love. But regardless…. HE HAS the power.
Deuteronomy 9:19
I feared the anger and wrath of the LORD, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the LORD listened to me
And it’s like an automatic, split-second change that occurred in me. Now, when I do things that I normally do that are sinful, things I don’t really think about like my temper or impatience, this week it’s been like, before I did it, I thought about God. And I didn’t do it, out of fear of the Lord. It’s an amazing thing too.
And yes I fear Him, but at the same time, I know He totally and completely loves me in the purest form. It’s only in Him that those two things can compliment eachother. Love, and fear of the One who you love. And I praise Him for that fear because it’s killing sinful habits I have.

Fun
Next, just wanted to share the day I had. I spent the day with my niece and nephew. Blake and Topanga. They got here and we went to Sweet Eugene’s and got donuts for breakfast and we played checkers there (which my patience was tested here, trying to explain a 6 and 7 year old how to play a game like this is hard). And then we went back to my casa. We were going to go swimming but because of the black clouds and the storm a’brewin, we stayed inside and they painted pictures for Grandma Faye and played Scrabble (WHY all these hard to explain games? Ha) And THEN after a bit of POURING… it’s stopped and got beautiful outside. So we went to Adamson’s Lagoon and spent the day there. Staci and Hayden and Hannah came too and we had a blast. I love my kiddos. Oh Mom, sorry, I forgot to have them call you!
Anyways, later I had a lovely 3 hour (not intended) nap. Then went BACK up to Sweet Eugene’s and hung out with my lovely roomie Kyndall, Ashley, Mark, and Caleb. We had an awesome time. It’s so good, being someone who has been on both sides of the spectrum, to be around people who just love their creator! What a blessing it is to have their company and friendship!
Please pray for my Grandma, she hasn’t been feeling well lately and her medicine isn’t helping her. And also pray for the roommate situation to pan out for me, I wanna stay with Kyndall soooooo bad. Love y’all and thanks for reading!

Cloud Shapes and Awesome Things

2007-06-18T23:15:00.000-07:00

"Oh Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hands has made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder. Thy power throughout the universe displays. Then sings my soul, my Savior, God, to thee, How great Thou art." -How Great Thou Art

Today I am just awe-stricken. With everything.

Today, when I was on my break from work, I went outside. Because even when it's 350 degrees outside it's still nice to get fresh air when you've been inside for 6 hours. So I sat down and looked up. Have you ever just looked up. Like, contently sat there with your head in a vertical (neck cricking) position just staring. Do you ever try and soar through the universe instead of just walk through the world around you? The Bible says to store our treasures up in Heaven (Matt 6:19-20). I saw inside the treasure box today. Yep... sure did. Are you jealous? Don't be. You can too!

God painted pictures in the clouds for me. A broken heart that quickly mended back to a whole heart... I'm serious, it happened, God can do that! And a guitar, and a ghost flying, and dolphin... An OLD FASHIONED DONUT?!?! Yeah, he's got a sense of humor too! But do you know that from a mile away that same cloud looks totally different? Do you ever notice how you can point something out to someone that you see but they never see it? So someone on the other side of that cloud, or directly beneath it, could see a totally different thing. I just can't help but think God does certain things for certain people. I actually had a friend who got to share those clouds today (and saw all the things I did, minus the dolphin). But what a blessing! He is romancing us, we just have to watch for it. He's wooing us to love him.

I'm also totally in awe of laughter. Man, if I don't die laughing in histerics, my day is wasted. You know who does a great job at making me laugh? Anson Hendrick. He got that funny gene his mom has. And I love it. My roommate, Kyndall... yeah she's pretty funny too. But funny stories, funny expressions, funny kids, they're all just... AWESOME! Let me share a quick funny story.... A crawfish crossing the road. Is that not hilarious? Kyndall, and our friend Mark saw one crossing the feeder road the other day. Can you imagine? Can we get a crawfish crossing sign made?

Music. You all know it's my favorite topic of discussion besides God. If you don't, then you don't know me very well. I'm listening to my iPod. Eyes closed. Praising the Lord with Shane and Shane. When you close your eyes, you hear so many elements and layers of the song that you wouldn't hear otherwise. I mean of course, you unconsciously hear it. How else could you name that tune by just the bass line (huh Kaylene?) But do you ever just sava' the flava' of the notes? Just press play on the song on my blog. (go on... to the left.... no, your left... THERE you go!) and close your eyes and listen. Concentrate on one instrument (guitar, drums, bass, vocals) and then slowly... start concentrating on 2 then 3... until it's all intricately laced up to make one beautiful, heart-pleasing, tasty song! By the grace of God... He made that music! He made those notes. And our ears to hear. He made those notes pleasing to our ears. And you know what's awesome about it is.... We can make music for His glory. We can turn right around and give it back to Him. Isn't that beautiful? This is where my passion for music lies. In this very truth. And with all those notes and lyrics and all those other awesome things... God's just saying "I love you. Here's all these magnificent things I have given you, and there's more to come. Now, just love Me!" What comes with love? Obedience. And with that comes life.

Real, amazingly abundant life.

How could you not already love someone who so passionately created and loved you?

Let me tell ya'll, I never saw the beauty in EVERYTHING until I came into a personal relationship with the Lord. Without Christ, I couldn't cherish all these things. He revealed the love of God to me. He is amazing. Beautiful. Breath-taking. And He loves us.

So I challenge you. Like you did with the song... if you did it... close your eyes. Just close your eyes....
"Be still and know that I am God." (Ps. 46:10)

Oh yeah

2007-06-14T01:16:00.000-07:00

And I was wondering if anyone knew of any other girls at Living Hope that need a roommate. Ashley Warren and I will be getting a 3 bedroom in August and need the 3rd person. KEEP YOUR EARS OPEN!!! Thanks!

I know it's been like FOREVER

2007-06-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

But now I have a new and improved pretty blog page!!! So I'm gonna write a long one. Cause there's a lot of updates. yep yep...

Well... let's see. I moved in with Kyndall and Whitney about a month and a half ago. And let me just say that THEY ARE AMAZING! I love these girls. They have been a solid ground for me when things haven't been so solid. You see not too long after I moved in I lost my job. I had about a week and a half where I didnt have a job and man, it was really discouraging. But I got one. And now things are very very tight, financially. But God is good. My landlord agreed to work out a plan.

I really miss all my friends who went home and on mission trips over the summer. Whitney, Katy F, Tanya, Adam, Chuck, Kim, Kevin, Nells, Sara, Juliette, Patrick, you all are verrrry missed!

But God is doing some huge things at Living Hope. People are coming into a relationship with God everyday and mine is growing deeper. He's really showing me what it means to be wholly devoted to Him. I'm taking an Experiencing God class and a Song of Solomon study this summer. With lovely lovely people. Which reminds me I need to get to reading my "Seven Longings of the Human Heart" which is part of the Song of Solomon study so.... I will have to continue this later

Ok I'm back ;) I know... this is like just how I talk... Rammbling. Whatever.

I finally got my stuff finished at Blinn yesterday. Now I just have to wait for the government to give me money for school :/ so pray for me for that. I've decided my major is going to be communications with a minor in marketing. Not to go to the market and communicate with people, I can do that without a degree. (sorry, corny joke). But I actually want to pursue a career in Music. (Hi, Dad!) No, not playing music, but want to be an agent or a manager for a record company. Preferably a Christain label like Tooth and Nail, Sparrow, Forefront Records or Curb Records. I think it would be just a BLAST!!!! Have any of ya'll heard of This Beautiful Republic? They're my new favorite. Listen to them here... This Beautiful Republic

I plan to go to Blinn for a year and move to Austin in May of 2008 and then transfer to Austin Community College in August. Hopefully get a job at a local or even bigger record label and then eventually go to UT WOOOOHOOOO! I am NOT an Aggie guys, ya'll gotta get the facts straight haha. There's by no means nothing wrong with that. It just ain't me. Except for the fact that I just said "ain't" and would defend the fact that it is in the dictionary.

I'm doing KidShine this summer. It's a Sunday night thing. The name of KidShine comes from Matthew 5:14-16 where it says

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

On the first day we taught the kids what it means to shine in darkness by turning off the lights in the room (which also had blackout paper on the windows) and then turned on a small lamp. Then they named all the leaders a name that had something to do with light. Thanks to the pastor's daughter miss Jalie... I had the COOLEST name (I think)... MISS RADIANT!!! Oh yes! Sorry Omo... I know you wanted that one. But Light Saber is a cool name too! :) Anyways, We're teaching them this summer why and how we worship and in August the kids are taking over worship at "big church" and I'm SOOOOOOOOO excited! Ahhh, it will be so good.

Ok now... The plan is to blog at least once a week now that I actually got it up and running again. So check back frequently and I'll keep you updated on life. Mucho love to everyone! Oh and check out the Prayer section on the left, that's where I will have any prayer requests I have for the week. ♥Ash

Busy days

2007-04-02T14:57:00.000-07:00

It seems that no matter if I have the day off or not, I never have enough time in a day. I definitely am cooking a beautiful meal right now. Chicken and cheese tortellini with sauteed chicken and a sundried tomato alfredo... and guess what I don't have time to eat it! I'm supposed to be at Butch and Michelle's in like 15 minutes!!!

Oh how I wish the days were longer. like maybe 72 hours each?

Happy Birthday

2007-03-23T12:19:00.000-07:00

Birthday's are such a blessing from God. It's a special day for us to be thankful of that person. And a day for that person to be thankful of the days and years that God has given us. I grew up in a religion that didn't believe in celebrating birthday's. But, now that I do celebrate birthdays, I realize it's so much more than a day... It's another year I have blessed people and another year I have had to glorify God. Like Michael and Kevin. I mean we had a BLAST at Chuck E Cheese!!!

They were running around like mad, playing all the video games and dancing with Chuck... oh and the little kids were too.

And this picture doesn't even do justice to the smoke and spit that flew over the cake and into Whitney's face.

Give me til Monday and I'll put the cute little sketch photo booth things of me and KK and me and Michael.

So tonight, I get to go to the Woodlands and see a very dear friend. My sister's best friend since before I was born. Katy... she's a doll and all her kids are too. We are going to a Skate Ministry!

Yeah, someone she knows has 8 acres of skate park behind their house and they do a skate ministry every other friday so... exciting and I get to go to College of Biblical Studies on Saturday to tour it and stuffs! Anyways, have a fantastic weekend and I'll see ya'll on Saturday!

My Hope Group

2007-03-22T07:20:00.000-07:00

I LOVE my Hope Group... Well, ONE of my Hope Groups. I mean I love both of 'em but... I only have pictures from one so here they are. Anyways... yesterday was such a blessing. WOW! God's beauty is ALL around us.

I think we all forget to just look at the little things. OR EVEN the big things! It's all around us. All of God's glory surrounds us everyday. Like my friends... I look at them and see how amazing He is. Because my friends ARE SO AMAZING!!!

I love how we're all family. We can all just cuddle up! We keep eachother cozy!

You can always be cool and invent foot fives like Patrick and I. Don't have a picture of that one, but if I did, it would be awesome!

And Whitney... my dear sweet Whitney. I'd be lost without her. She's so great!

But seriously... the greatest blessing is the beautiful children with their child-like faith.

All of ya'll are a blessing and I'm so thankful for the family God has given me. I love ya'll!!!!!

And Happy birthday to Kevin and Michael!

Sorry it's been so long

2007-03-21T07:02:00.000-07:00

I would say it's been a busy crazy month, but really I've just been lazy and haven't been updating.
Well... relationship week was a blessing. God is so good and I really believe he deepened relationships during that week. My week was full of relationships!
Monday I went to Ignite and got to hang out with Jenny and Ryan Couch.
Tuesday I went to Breakaway (not with LH people but with friends from Grace)
Wednesday I got to go to The Freeman's for dinner. That was a lot of fun.
Thursday I hung out all day with my mentor Kaylene. I love her. We didn't do much. Tried to put a baby bed together. But didn't have instructions. While guys may not need instructions, GIRLS DO! Anyways, then later that night I went and ate dinner with Kathryn and the boys. Man, was that good. God showed me how much me and her are alike. Our testimonies are pretty similar.
Friday-Sunday... it's been too long I don't remember exactly what I did... BUT IT WAS A BLESSING! Haha

Then, ya'll might know I've been looking for roomies... GIRL roomies, CHRISTIAN GIRL roomies :) and well, on Facebook, there's a Living Hope Group and there was a post for a roommate needed. So I contacted the girl (Tara) and went and saw the place. I haven't met my soon to be roommates but in May, I'm moving in with Kim and Kendall and I'll be right down the street from Wolf Pen Creek... MY FAVORITE PARK! Praise God I can walk down there and spend my quiet time in the park! YAY!

Anyways... then Spring Break hit. Wow... I can honestly say, God showed me in HUGE HUGE ways that Christian fellowship is NECESSARY in your walk with God. My LHBC friends all left for Spring Break so... I was hanging out with my "usual crowd" all week. I was like "PARTY!!!!"... I used the free time (that I could have been using to get to know God better or to teach others of him) to party and go wild! I mean, seriously. Then lastnight... I was reading my notes from a few Breakaway's ago and it said "If you want everything to be the same way it's been forever, keep living how you've been living. But if you want to live an ABUNDANT life, let Jesus live it for you." And I realized I'm falling into the same trap that I've been stuck in for my whole life. The one that when I found Jesus... I was like "WHOA, he can totally take all this away?" welllll... if I let him.

Anyways, I went to a new Hope Group lastnight. I was really like sad that I might be leaving my Hope Group cause I love ya'll sooooooo much... but the Tipton's are awesome and everyone in that Hope Group is soo great! And I was scared that I might not know anyone but Katy Fuller was there so I was really excited! So, Saturday is my first official day in Children's ministry and I'm so stoked! I can't wait to see what God's doing in these kids lives and how he's going to use me in the big picture. And I know I'll learn a lot from these kiddos. PRAY FOR ME! haha! See you guys tonight.

Before

After

OH! Almost forgot. I got my lip pierced :) It's oh so cute. And I was scared I might have to take it out for Children's ministry but I asked Howard "Is this going to be a problem?" and he says "Is what goin to be a problem?" and I pointed to my lip ring and he was like "you might be able to reach someone I could never reach with that so no it's not a problem at all!" Praise God I can make a witness with my piercings HAHA! K guys, love you!

Spring time

2007-02-27T12:50:00.000-08:00

Ok guys, I don't know if you know this but I write poetry. My friend Scott is teaching me how to play guitar and I'm rather good I must say (I played for 3 years a long time ago)... Anyways, long story short, my poetry will one day turn into music. I don't know if any of you are Jack Johnson fans, but my idea for this poem is to have a jack johnson-esque sound to it... beachy and fast tempoed amazingness. Read on dear friend, read on:

The wind's blowin
and the sun is high
I look up to see
not a cloud in the sky
The birds are chirpin'
and trees are green
it's the most beautiful day
I've ever seen

It's spring time
break out the tunes
and stay a while
The water's fine
toes in the sand
and your big smile
I couldn't have planned it
any other way
This season can just set down it's bags
and plan to stay
It's spring time

Head to the park
with your best friend
to throw some frisbee
it's the latest trend
Soak up the rays
sunglasses on
lemonade stands
it's so much fun

It's spring time
break out the tunes
and stay a while
The water's fine
toes in the sand
and your big smile
I couldn't have planned it
any other way
This season can just set down it's bags
and plan to stay
It's spring time

~So... it's kind of a corny little kids soundin song.. but Jack Johnson could pull it off and hopefully I can too when I get this guitar thing down.

Love, Ash

Quiet Time

2007-02-22T13:05:00.000-08:00

Ok So I had my first official quiet time this morning. Praise God for friends like Whitney. I get a call 2 SECONDS after my alarm goes off... Praise God for faithful friends cause I would've just been hitting snooze. But I read, and I prayed. And first of all, let me be A.D.D. and change subjects real quick and tell ya'll about how I typed up my prayer lastnight... You know how I've been struggling with prayer? and it really worked. Like, I poured my heart out to God.

SO I began this quiet time with a prayer and I read Psalms 53. I love the Psalms and lastnight Kevin and Whitney mentioned it and for some reason I wrote it down so... I read it and it's so beautiful.

I mean, I know God forgives but... Like I've always thought of me and David as the same person. I mean, I know everything I've done to not deserve my salvation but yet... I know God forgives. And I love how he says in verse 12:

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.

Because no matter how much poo we have around our heart, God can change us and the result of that is people see, they take notice of how we've changed and then we can live our lives for God's glory!

Anyways, I will be waking up every morning at 6. YAY! haha, no it really has blessed me today. I've been in a good mood, I haven't had to bite my tongue. It just sets the tone for a wonderful day! Well there you go. I updated my blog. Now you know I'm not dead. :) Love ya'll!

A day in my world

2007-02-03T11:56:00.000-08:00

I know ya'll have all wondered about that mysterious girl Ashley. "What does she do all day that makes her so cool?" "I wish I could just get a glimpse into her daily life." Well, you see, my life is pretty exciting. And I'm gonna offer you just the chance to see what it's really like to be me.

I usually start my day off hitting the snooze button about 4 times. I have to set 3 alarms on my cell phone and 1 on my regular alarm before I'll actually get up. Today I woke up 5 minutes before I had to be at work. AHHH!

Then I get outta bed, sometimes I take a shower and then I read through a little of the good Word, ponder on it a bit, slap a little face paint on and search for some breakfast. Usually I have cereal or milk but never both so i usually just head out like a baby.

I get to work usually 30 seconds late (no biggie). And make the cookies for the day (so I'll have breakfast). I work at The Enclave Apts. I'm kind of a big deal. I have an office with Rich mahogany furniture and many leather bound books. No but really, I'm a leasing agent and it's boring.

Although, this week has been exciting, we got to fold 350 letters and stuff envelopes and lick them and stamp em and mail em. I think I gained like 3 lbs. from all the envelope glue. I was totally psyched cause it kept me busy for 3 hours. And My co-worker got a pit puppy and he's totally cool.

Then somebody comes in and wants to look at an apartment. Ok tell me if you've ever experienced this... It's like, you start a new job and someone asks you a question. And in the back of your head you know it but your manager is standing right there so you look at her like "what's the answer to this?" And on the weekends when she's not here, its totally cool and I can handle everything like a pro. I don't know I guess it's like a dependency thing. Anyways, that's pretty much my day. After work I go home, read, shower, sometimes go to the gym. Breakaway, Hope Group, etc. That's pretty much what makes me ME. So needless to say I have a boring life and boring job. But it's so cool cause right now I'm at work, blogging and watching my favorite movie "10 things I hate about you".

Now if only we had nap time.

He's more than enough

2007-01-22T07:42:00.001-08:00

He's more than enough

I can't remember who but a friend once told me... sometimes life is like one of those big mosaics made out of little pictures. And when you're standing real close to it, all you see are the hundreds of very small pictures.. but when you step away... The little pictures make one very large beautiful picture. Well... all we see of our life is what's going on right now. God sees the big picture and how he plans to use what's going on in our life right now for our purpose in life and in heaven. I read this devotional today and it was SOOO what I needed to hear and I just thought I'd share it cause it's really good... :) ~Ash

Jesus is Enough
by Sheila Walsh

Living our lives with certain things unresolved is what faith is all about. I believe that many things happen that we simply can't explain. When we look back after many years, we still have little understanding of what went on. But we have the knowledge and assurance that Jesus was there with us through every moment, walking by our side, guiding our footsteps. We never needed to fear the questions, because Jesus was answer enough.

Some of the greatest words Paul ever wrote start with questions: Can anything separate us from the love Christ has for us? Can troubles or problems or sufferings? If we have no food or clothes, if we are in danger, or even if death comes, can any of these things separate us from Christ's love?

Paul's answer is that nothing-absolutely nothing-in this entire world can seperate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Here is where we must start. Even in the darkest night, the most blinding pain, the most maddening frustration-when nothing makes sense anymore-we keep going because he alone is worth it all.

For years I drank deeply of the false belief that if I just had enough faith, everything would go my way. I thought I had God in a box: I do this for God and He does that for me. But it's not true, and so many lives are caught and wrecked in the wake of this teaching.

*"What did I do wrong?" we cry. Heaven cries back "Everything, but I love you anyway. Always have, always will."

Holding on is hard-it can seem impossible-but it is worth it because Jesus is worth it. No matter what happens, Jesus is enough.

It's over :(

2007-01-10T11:41:00.000-08:00

So me and my boyfriend of 10 months broke up the day before New Years.
It's ok, I mean, it wasn't expected and yeah it'll be hard for a while but...
It's something that needed to happen. I mean our views on God are SOOO different. And that's the main thing that needs to mesh well in a relationship, right?
And I need to spend time focusing on myself, molding myself to be the Christian I wanna be, right?

The only hard part about it is the fact that I've been with him pretty much everyday since I moved back so I haven't really had time to spend with old friends or even make new ones. So it gets a little lonely when I'm sitting at home, for the 4th night in a row with nothing to do.
And I KNOW, I KNOW I'm not alone. I know I have Jesus right there but that's hard to think of when you're so... lonely?! I mean I guess it'll be hard for a while but I really need to get back with some good friends. I need to cultivate some new friendships. And I've been praying for the right ones to build me up. So... pray for me. And I love you guys!

Bobble head

2006-12-28T14:57:00.000-08:00

So I'm sitting here at work. Reading. Oprah's on tv. (Yeah I have a really relaxed job.) And... I just CANNOT keep my head up. I've been getting good sleep (except for the 5 hours lastnight) but I just can't seem to keep myself awake. I look like a bobble head. You know those toys that have the huge heads that just... well... bobble? Yeah what's the point of those anyways?? They don't serve ANY kind of purpose and they're actually pretty ugly. But EVERYONE seems to like them. Anyways... I just thought it was a funny thing I might share with ya'll. I'm so productive at work eh? OH YEAH! Well... I got paid today and realized I have enough money to take if not 2 classes then 1 class at Blinn... IN JANUARY!!! Yeah Thought I had enough for 2... but then I realized my car insurance is due so... yeah. Just pray for me that I might have some way to pay for both. Anyways. Much love, peace and chicken grease.

Christmas Joy

2006-12-26T09:02:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas.
I know Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year.
But it is easy to get all caught up in the gift giving
and stress over whether you got everything or not.
And when you do that it's easy to let Jesus slip out of Christmas.
I heard that Jesus died to pay for our debt
not to get us into debt.
My brother told me that his girlfriend got onto him
because he texted her "Merry Xmas" and she said
"Don't do that, you're taking the Christ out of Christmas.
We had a "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake.
Just to remind us that He IS the reason for the season.
He holds the key to everything.
It was really a blessing to be around my friends and family.
Especially Katie and Michael who had such
love and a passion for Christ that I just wanna
feed off of their fire.
We opened presents, cooked dinner with the whole family.
I actually baked cookies from scratch guys!!!
We had so much fun with everyone we love.
We ate... played Catch Phrase.
And we praised the Lord together.
This was one of the best Christmases ever.
And it REALLY is a greater joy to give a gift and
see the look on your loved ones face, than it is to receive
gifts. It gives you a fulfilled feeling.
"The joy of Christmas, stays here inside us. Fills
each and every heart with love." -Faith Hill
Merry Belated Christmas

Why is there only 5?

2006-12-06T19:35:00.001-08:00

So everyone in the LHBC family is posting this "5 things you don't know about me" kinda thing and I'm wondering why there's only 5. I am a VERY complex person and I guess the reason for the number limit is because of people like me, who have LOTS of secrets (teehee, not really). So I will start off with number 1 and end with number 5. Even though I DON'T like to conform and be like EVERYONE else. (maybe I'll add another... we'll just have to see won't we?)

1. I can sing.

and I mean good... now let's not brag, Ashley but seriously if you think Celine Dion is good, wait till you hear me. In my shower at least. Well, ok so I'm not Alicia Keys but I love to sing especially when it's praise music for my wonderful God! I will be trying out for the music ministry team next time around and lets hope I sing as well as I like to sing. I have gotten good reviews at my weekly kareoke night. haha.

2. I'm VERY sarcastic.

And I don't mean to offend anyone. My sarcasm is a joke and most likely a sheild for my insecurities. But I tend to say "you're mom" a lot when it doesn't even apply. Much to my dismay, this joke has backfired on me when I find out a person in my vicinity has lost a mother. I try to just say "your face" now. I'm not talking about "you're momma so ugly..." I don't like insults. I'm talking about totally random, off the wall "you do yoga twice a week?" which is then replied with "You're mom does yoga twice a week". But if my sarcasm ever hurts you (it's never intentional) just tell me to shut my pie hole and I will.

3. My favorite thing is chocolate milk.

And I mean I LOVE this stuff. I don't know what I would do without chocolate milk. Which is weird because I don't like to eat chocolate. just drink it.

4. I watch the same movie about a million times in one night.

When I fall asleep on the couch, I fall asleep watching a movie (usually like Fox and the Hound or something like that) and when it stops, I magically wake up and instead of getting up and going to bed to go to sleep, i get up, press play and lay back down on the couch. This takes a lot of effort. This is why I avoid tv at bed time. I'm so weird I know, it's just a habit.

5. I love kids, absolutely love 'em.

But just like with other people I have to warm up to them. See I like to get on their level. yep, we end up picking our nose together by the end of the day. My favorite thing in the world is to make a kid laugh and that is why I absolutely ADORE my neices and nephews, I can totally act like the biggest goofball around town and do they judge me? no... they laugh and then act a fool with me. Ahhh, if we could only stay this young forever! This is the ministry I really thing God is leading me to. I really want to be a 3rd or 4th grade teacher one day at a Christian School. And the reason I want to teach at a Christian School is because, I can't go 10 minutes without bringing up God to my nieces or nephews, how could I expect myself to go through 6 hours a day not being able to talk about our Savior to the most important people around... they're the future!!!

That about sums it up. Yes I conformed. I only posted 5. But.... you can unfold some more mysteries by just getting to know me. I can always use another friend. So if you love Jesus... hit me up and we'll hang out! :)

God bless!