OH MY LORD.It's been SO LONG. I apologize, seriously.
Where do I even start?
I left off in the middle of Holy Spirit week. And, unfortunately, the details are a bit fuzzy, but I know God was doing crazy rad stuff in all of our lives.
Sunday, we got to lead the service at our church, remember?! It was incredibly powerful... We have a few videos I'll try to put up here soon. If I don't, Elisabeth probably will, so check on her blog to see if she posted anything(: We're all sort of trying to catch up with our communications right now because we've been so so so busy!
Oh, so this Sunday and next Sunday Luke and I are helping to lead worship at church again! Woop! Maybe. BUT! I got to help lead worship today for the base, and it was PHENOMENAL!
Then, I was invited to lunch with a gal from Beautiful Feet, which is an awesome ministry, look it up. My two new best friends/big sisters Sam and Brittni informed me today that I'm like the third strand in their triple braided cord, which just delighted me from my head to my toes. They love me so so much(: Anyway, Sam is going to Thailand in October to help film a promo video for a new ministry this lady, Lynn, is starting for the children of the women who are working in the Red Light District. It's a learning center where the Thai kids will learn English and science and math and things, but most importantly, they'll experience the love of Jesus and their foundations will be established so that when they grow up, they won't be lost in the same world of sex trafficking as their parents. Also, during that same time period, Sam wants me to come help her lead worship for a group of about 8,000 college kids at a university in Thailand. GOD IS SO FREAKING COOL! Ah. Praying into it, obviously, but I'm super excited at the thought anyway(: Pray for finances for that, haha.
Anyway, I got a little side-tracked there. On Saturday, Sam and I dressed up like statues and arm wrestled for two hours. We sat TOTALLY STILL and kept our faces STRAIGHT, in spite of hilarious conversations about whether or not we were real people, children kicking and poking us, and all sorts of shenanigans (only by the grace of God). We had a bucket on either side, so when people put money into one side, that person started winning, and vice versa... it got really competitive, and my superfantasticallyamazing family helped rile up the crowd... in total we raised about $140!! Praise the LORD!!! And THEN, we busted out into some EPIC spontaneous worship -- right there in the middle of Burbank, still in our silver gear and all, but people were so hungry for it! It was INSANE! There were about ten of us all playing/singing/harmonising at the same time, and it was GLORIOUS! Seriously, those 9847283-part harmonies were just MIND-BLOWING! And the best part was that the people of Burbank were SO HUNGRY for it... there were so many people who just came by and stood there and listened... some joined in... some started worshiping their hearts out... this one old dude started singing these really old-school songs, which was hilariously epic... and in the end we managed to get around $50 in about an hour of worshiping. It was such a blessing in itself just to be able to worship out there and have God use us to spread His light and advance His kingdom into the dark places of this world, but it was so amazing that God even blessed us with financial support for Chile through it! God is GOOOOOOD!(:
For the next two weeks, we'll be participating in Circuit Riders here in LA (Google that!) so I'll probably be super intensely busy AGAIN, then we'll be in Chile!
I need 70 people to give me $20 for Chile, so if you feel like giving, now is a great time to do that(:
Also, in Chile, I'm not sure what the communication to the outside world will look like so be very patient with me pleaseeeee and thank you a bajillion.
Also, thank you SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH to all of you who have been supporting me so far. If I had to go home today, I would be super super sad, but my life is definitely changed for the best and I'm totally down to just live for Jesus for the rest of my days(: PRAISE THE LORD.
Love,
Ashley the sunflower(:
PS: Thank you so much to my dear brother Luke who helped me write this blog even though I'm totally exhausted and not always motivated to write so many words(:
--You're welcome(:
Ashley,
ReplyDeleteAs always, your words are an inspiration. Sometimes I forget that you are my little Ashley. Wow, God has done a wonderful work through you. Folks hang on to your fork, the best is yet to come!
The most impressive thing I see is how energized you are for Him. How on fire for Him you are today and it is apparent you LOVE the Lord.
As a father, I was always concerned that my daughter was going to go away with another man in the future. I prayed for the perfect person for you. I prayed this ever since you were a tiny tot. Thank the Lord, He responded - and in a BIG way.
He said, "Akhil, you want Ashley to be swept off her feet by thee man. You want her to spend the rest of her life in love with this person? No mortal will answer your prayer, I will send her MY SON!"
Congratulations Ashley, you fell in love with the right man, the only man who is worthy of you (of course I may be biased, naw!)
Love Him and your life will be even more amazing, like I said the best is yet to come. Keep striving - keep reaching - keep persevering.
Know that your earthly father as well as you heavenly father smiles at all you do.
Funny thought, I wonder if God goes around saying things like, "He Gabe, have you checked out Ashley lately? She is doing some cool things. Ya, she was a mess, but look at her now! Told ya' she was going to do fabulous things for us!!"
I am sure that He is seeing your heart and He is thrilled.
Enjoy your adventures. I love you more than words can say, Dad