Hi Everyone,

 

I have been here at JH Ranch for a week now and have been getting settled into doing my new work routine. I am on housekeeping staff, and have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know and work with Grace Dean, the head of housekeeping. She is so sweet and we new housekeeping girls have already been to her house to bake once and get to go back to her house tonight for homemade ice cream. YUM! On Wednesday, we were sent out on our 24 hour solos to just go spend some time with God. In the weeks before I came to the ranch I was so busy and just didn't slow down. My schedule got crazier instead of winding down and so when I got here I felt like I needed something to do. I felt like I should be doing something, but no one had given me instructions yet. I had to be patient and wait, and while I was on my solo, I felt like the Lord just wanted me to shut up and sit in my tent. When we go on our solos here, we have to find a spot to camp for about 24 hours and we take sack-lunch kind of food with us. The Lord led me to a beautiful place in none other than the horse pasture. I am allergic to horses, so I am so glad that He kept me from having any problems with allergies while I was out there. I could see some of the mountains surrounding the ranch and I could see the back of the big tent (aka. Big Top) where we have worship. Once the sun started to go down, deer came around my tent and were grazing and didn't really seem to mind that I was there. I watched the horses eat and run around and I also watched red-breasted robins catch worms in the grass. After a while, I was content to just sit and watch the bugs in the grass outside the door of my tent. At one point, I was walking through the pasture and all of these fluffy little seeds were floating out of the trees and I felt like I was walking through snow. It was so beautiful. I just wanted to put out an update on how things are going and what I am up to since I have been so busy since I got here. Look for more updates soon!

 

In Christ Alone,

Ashley

I was checking out in Wal-Mart the other day when I just stopped and actually looked around. Maybe it's just the fact that I am going to be away from home and a lot of the "comforts" I am used to, but I realized how ridiculously huge the store was. I mean, we have EVERYTHING we want. We have hundreds of medications to choose from without having to see the doctor, there are thousands of cans and boxes of food that will keep on our pantry shelf for months, fresh fruits and veggies that have had all of the rejected "scratch and dent" peices removed and most likely thrown away. As I walked down the huge walkway in the front of the store, on one side there was a bank of cash registers with ample room for people to pay for their groceries without having to be in a line longer than 5 people. On the other side of me was acres of brand new clothes, everything for your home that you could possibly want, and more toys and electronics than you can count. Even at the checkout, you can get whatever flavor gum, mints or candy to suit your pleasure and I am sure that most of us never even think twice about how much $1.19 would be worth in someone else's world. I never thought that I would have a paradigm shift in a Wal-Mart, but I can't look at my life the same way.

 

Here are some of my expectations, thoughts and feelings...

- I expect to be taken way outside of my comfort zone

- I want to be broken

- I pray that the Lord uses me in ways that I can't even imagine right now

- I desire to be changed by the work that the Lord does in and through me

- I know I will have times where I miss my friends and family soooooo much

- I want to be a light for Jesus

- I will be nervous sometimes

- I will be excited sometimes

- Sometimes I am nervous about getting sick from something, but I know that I have to put it in the Lord's hands

- I can't wait to see new and beautiful places and meet new people

- I am excited to go on such a crazy trip

- I want to be an encouragement to the people who are supporting me

- I expect to have the experience of a lifetime!

 

 
After the show was over I slipped into my room and did a little research. I found out exactly what the World Race is and I couldn't stop looking at the different races and especially the photos. I guess being a photographer I get drawn to images first. I saw children in Africa, people talking and praying with women who are prostitues in Thailand, and ministry in Guatemala. It grabbed my heart and woulnd't let it go. But I didn't pursue the World Race right away. I didn't even tell anyone that I had looked at it. I just waited to see what the Lord would say to me. I wanted to hear Him tell me what to do. And He did.
 
I was sitting in church listening to the pastor preach and it seemed like every single Sunday, something from his sermon in Romans grabbed that part of my heart again and whispered "Go". I couldn't get the race out of my heart. I found myself going back to the website to see if I could find out more about it and what was involved. I had been on a couple of short-term trips to Guatemala and God had pressed on my heart then that maybe He wanted me to do more missions overseas. Now He was telling me to take this opportunity, sometimes even yelling it! "Go Ashley, go! Don't be afraid of the unknown, just go!"
 

It's really amazing how the Lord has led me to the World Race. I have this funny feeling that the Lord is going to use this as a way to grow me more than I have ever grown before.

 

- I think that the Lord is going to take me waaaaay out of my comfortable Scottsdale life and show me how incredibly spoiled and privileged I am. I want Him to take away any feelings of entitlement.

- How will I feel about being away from my family for a whole year? I mean, I like traveling, but will I be able to handle it?

- I wonder who the people are I will meet and what our relationships will be like.

- I get excited and a little nervous about trying new food out!

- I know I am going to have a bazillion photos to show everyone when I get back and I want to show them the places where I worked and lived with my teammates and tell them all about our ministry.

- I want the Lord to help me be more sensitive to the people around me who just need to hear about Jesus, because this trip is soooo not about me!

- Lord, please help me to connect with people on a much deeper emotional level than I could ever imagine possible.

- God help me to be less selfish especially in light of all of the blessings that I take for granted every single day.

- I want to be broken for Jesus and give up all of my want to promote myself and my feelings for my own good.