Birthday Blessings for My Mom

Dear Mom,
     I just wanted to take a minute to tell you Happy Birthday, and let you know how much you mean to me. From the time I was born you have instilled Christ and God's word in me, and for that I am forever grateful. Out of all the gifts you've given me, this is the best gift and one that has forever changed my life. I will never forget all the Sunday School lessons you taught, and through those stories I was captivated by Him, and the great love He has for us. You taught me what it meant to have a relationship with Jesus and because of this, I now have the hope and promise of eternal life. From the bottom of my heart...thank you. I also wanted to thank you for teaching me compassion. Because of your selfless attitude towards others, I know what it means to love and serve the least of these. In you, I see the kindness of Ruth, the courage of Esther, the hospitality of Lydia, and the heart of Christ. You are truly an amazing, godly woman and I feel blessed to be your daughter. Thank you for all that you sacrificed for us through the years. You always made birthday's and Christmases so special, and created memories that will last a lifetime. My hope and prayer is that I can one day be the kind of mother you are to my own children. I also wanted to apologize for the years I was a prodigal child. I know the choices I made and attitude I had broke your heart, and for that I am truly sorry. However, God was faithful to His promise that if you train up a child in the way he should go, he will not depart from it when he is older. Thank you for training me in the way I should go; His way. There is no better direction you could have pointed me to. And, even though I'm no longer a child, I still value your wisdom and look to your example of faithfulness. I love you, mom. Always have, always will. Happy Birthday!

Love,
Ashley

Sunday Worship Song

     Wow. What a powerful worship song. After hearing this I am left nearly speechless and all I can do is humbly bow my head in reverence and thank the Lord that because of His son, Jesus Christ...I am redeemed. What a wonderful gift we've been given. I have made so many mistakes in my past, but because of Him, I no longer have to carry the weight and guilt of my sins. He has truly set me free, and I am no longer a slave to sin, but rather a forgiven child who is completely sold out to Him. Oh, how I love Him, and oh, how He loves us. I will ever praise Him for making me a new creation, and just as this song says, I don't have to be the old woman inside of me, because her day is LONG DEAD and GONE! I am redeemed....thank God, redeemed.

The Space Between

     A few months ago, my pastor preached a sermon on Moses leading the people into the promised land, and how God allowed the people to go into a season of wondering while on their journey. When the Israelites left from Egypt to go to the promised land, it was a journey that should have taken about 11 days. However, this was not the case...it took them 39 YEARS. This period in the Israelites history is known as, "the wondering." As my pastor defined wondering, he said, "Wondering is living in the space between where I started and where I want to be." He then went on to say that God does a lot of His work in us when we travel in that space, and then gave this challenge, "How do you live in the space between?" The space between dating and getting married. The space between deciding to start a family and having a child. The space between getting into debt and getting out of debt. The space between losing a loved one and being reunited with them in Heaven...the list goes on.

     How we live during the space between, defines our character and what we really believe about who God is, and what He can do. The problem is, is that most of us aren't concerned with the journey, but rather we are more focused on the destination. As a result of this, we are in a constant hurry. For example, when go on a trip we may not even take time to enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way, because we are so anxious to get to where we are going. The same can be true in our daily lives. We just want to hurry up and get the mundane tasks done so that we can move on to something more exciting. What if those are the times that God is trying to speak to us the loudest? I am concerned that we are so anxious for the next great thing, that we miss what God has put before us in the here and now.

     Why, in this culture, are we in such a hurry? God most certainly is not a God of, "hurry." Take for example, Abraham and Sarah. God had promised them a child, and He was faithful to that promise, but not until decades later. God is not on our time. He has His own clock. I have to agree with my pastor when he said that he believes the primary reason for this, is because God is more concerned about who we are becoming than where we are going. Did that hit you as hard as it did me when I first heard it? For me, it was a real eye opener. Many times I have asked God, "When is ______ finally going to happen? How long must I be in this land of wondering?," all the while forgetting that He is faithful to ALL of His promises and He will come through for me. As my pastor put it, "What God does for us while we're waiting, is often times more important than whatever it is we're waiting for." 

     So I ask, who are we going to be when God calls us to a season of wondering? Are we going to whine and complain as the Israelites did on their journey? (More on that to come.) Or are we going to be a grateful people who rely solely on God's direction and look to Him every step of the way, while all along, "being confident of this, that He who began a good work will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Phil. 1:6) God does His best work in the wilderness, and out of wondering comes...becoming.

31 to be Exact

     As I was visiting the Women Living Well blog tonight, I came across this video and could not wait to share it. We are called to be women of a different status, and to look different than the world. You may ask, "How can we look different when we are constantly bombarded by the media to look, act, and think like the women we see in magazines or on TV?" Well, I'll tell you how. We need to change our focus, and fix our eyes and minds on Christ. Only He can transform us and purify our minds. So I ask, will you join me on this journey of becoming a Proverbs 31 woman, or will you continue to fall for the lies of the enemy who tells us to gauge our worth on media standards, instead of finding our true worth and beauty in our Sweet Savior, Jesus Christ? I promise there is freedom to be found when we silence the enemy and listen His voice instead.

Sunday Worship Song

     I have been loving this song by Switchfoot, and know that there have been many times in my own life when I have been made restless, simply because I needed to reconnect with the Lord. There is truly nothing like feeling His sweet presence in our daily lives. My favorite part of this song is when it says...


Until the sea of glass we meet
At last completed and complete
Where tide and tear and pain subside
And laughter drinks them dry

Oh, how I cannot wait for the day when we see the clouds part, and our precious Savior takes us home. No more pain, no more tears...just laughter. What a glorious day that will be. Happy Sunday everyone!



Also, please continue to pray for the people of Aurora, Colorado during this time of tragedy.

T.G.I.F.

Happy Friday Everyone!!!!

Marriage Tip Tuesday

     When it comes to your marriage, how much time are you spending with your spouse? I'm not talking about being in the same place at the same time, I'm talking about that deep, one on one time that we all need to be having with our spouse. I have been really convicted lately about how much more time I spend on other things such as the Internet, TV, housekeeping, etc., instead of taking each precious moment I get to spend with my husband. I would say out of all these, the Internet gets most of my attention. If I'm not working on this blog, I'm on pinterest. If I'm not on pinterest, I'm on other blogs, and so on. As a matter of fact, just last night I could tell that Jeff was really trying to get my attention, but what did I do? I selfishly chose to finish what I was doing on the computer, rather than give my husband the attention he rightfully deserves. Later on, I felt so guilty about it that I ended up writing him a short letter to apologize and promised that we would be spending some quality time together tonight. So, that is what I encourage you to do as well. Pull the plug on the computer, TV, or whatever it may be that serves as a distraction to you. I don't know about you, but I don't want these things to have my heart, and here lately... they have. Instead I want more than anything for God to have my heart first, and my husband second. I need to more intentional to number the days I have on this earth and make the most of every moment. Starting now, that is exactly what I'm going to do. Jeff will be home in a couple of hours, and when he gets home I refuse to let any distractions come between us. Will you decide to do the same thing for your husband as well? I promise the quality time and bond you build will mean so much more to you than anything else. Give him the attention he wants, needs, and most definitely deserves.