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I can finally see the light at the end of the U.S. History tunnel.... two or three more days and I'll be FREE!!! Yes, I know it's summer already, and I've been enjoying the warm weather, sunshine, etc. But when this class is over I'll feel like summer has REALLY started. :-) Next week is camp, and a couple weeks after that is the Kenya trip. I'm totally excited about both, although Kenya still seems kind of surreal. I still have a LOT to do before the Kenya trip, and a few things left to do before camp, too, like finishing up planning devotions, packing, stuff like that. I don't know if this may be my last summer working at camp - at least for a while - so I am really excited, hoping and praying that this will be just an amazing camp week. I want to be the best counselor I have ever been, for God and for the girls. :-) Prayer request : Will you all please pray for my really good friend's mom? The mom's name is Ruth and she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. They are supposed to be doing surgery ASAP, followed by radiation, but hopefully will not have to do chemo. The tumor is still small right now. Please pray for God to heal her, to provide the money they need, and to strengthen this family as they've had a lot of health issues lately. Thank you!! I hope you're all enjoying summer.. have a great day!! Are You not the closest when it's hardest to stand? |
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Well, it's time for another over-due post, and this one's going to be filled with photos -- photos of my summer so far!!
The day after VBS was over, my family headed over to my grandparents' house to spend a week with my sister Briana. My mom and I went to see the closing night show of Shenandoah, the musical Briana has been in at the theater there. Shenandoah was her first big musical at a professional theater, and she had a blast doing it. It was a great show too! A couple of pictures of Briana in the musical (taken back at dress rehearsal a couple months ago!)--
And... Briana with the "special someone" that Shenandoah introduced her to :-)
And, spent a lot of time playing Wii - haha - and just hanging out by the lake that my grandparents live on. Sitting out on the dock by the lake is so relaxing! :-) Now, I'm slowly tackling my mile-long list of things I need to do before camp in a couple of weeks and the Kenya trip after that. It's a lot of stuff... plus finishing up my summer US History class. I could be really stressed, but I'm trying not to be. The Scripture verse I'm holding onto right now is Isaiah 26:3, "The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You." God bless! |
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Sorry it has been so long since I've written anything.... again! I really should be studying right now. But I'm not. haha. I'm taking a summer college class - US History - and it requires a LOT of reading! This class will be over the first week of July, just in time for all my exciting summer activities to start. First, working at camp, and then, a mission trip to Kenya!! :-) I'm really excited about both!! This will be my 5th summer as a camp counselor, but my first time going to Africa. AND the first time flying/going out of the country without any members of my family with me. So.. it'll be interesting. I'm a little nervous, but excited. I have been wanting to go to Kenya since about 4th grade. Now, I'm getting to go, AND I get to teach praise dance to some of the young people there! What a blessing - I'm so thankful for this opportunity! Yesterday, a friend sent me a Facebook comment that said, "I hope God is blessing you, even in the small ways." That was really sweet, and you know what, it was really a good reminder for me to open my eyes and look for those small blessings. They're all around us every day, but most of the time we don't pay attention. Little things that make us smile, answered prayers... they're all little reminders of how much God loves us. He is crazy about us. So that in itself was a blessing to me yesterday, to open "the eyes of my heart" to see God's little everyday gifts. Talk to you later! |
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Camp - my summer employer - has lost a special man who can never be replaced. Camp certainly will not be the same without Lloyd. He was so funny, respected and loved by everyone at camp (kids and staff), and a great encourager. I can't tell you how many times during my weeks at camp that he has just given me a hug and asked how I was doing... and once when I was having a really tough week and ready to just give up and go home, he and I sat in his golf cart while I cried and he gave me some encouragement and advice. Please pray for Lloyd's family -- his sweet wife Patsy and their children and grandchildren. And if you would, please also lift up all of us "camp people" and the assistant director, who I'm guessing will be taking over as director this summer. It will be an adjustment for all. But especially lift up the family.
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Hi there! Today is my youngest sister Daniella's 8th birthday! I know she would love to get some birthday comments on her blog, so if you have a minute, go and wish her a happy birthday. :-) We also celebrated Daniella's adoption day last week... April is a special month for her! She is growing up so fast. :-) Well, that's it for today. I'm working on writing something up (in my free time!) about something I've been learning about in college.. so hopefully I will be able to finish that and post it soon. Here's one more pic of me and my two youngest sisters on Easter Sunday after church. Love, Ashley |
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Finally, here are the pictures and videos I promised from our church's Easter Musical. It went really well -- especially the Sunday morning (Palm Sunday) presentation, was really blessed and anointed by the Lord. We prayed over it a lot, and I am thankful that the singing and dancing and speaking was blessed, and also the message our music minister spoke to the church afterwards. Our church is going through a REALLY tough time right now, and he pretty much challenged the church to "get real." Anyway, here are a few pictures of the dance team dancing to "Celebrate Jesus."
The choir sang about 10 songs and we actually did 2 dances (I don't have pics of the other one though). Some of the little girls (ages 4-11) danced with us this time; that was the first time they have participated with the dance team and the LOVED it!! They were so cute. :-) Here is the video of "Blessed be the Name of Life" (don't forget, you'll need to go down to the bottom and pause my music player before watching the videos) And here's "Celebrate Jesus / Wake Up World" Hopefully those will work... I pulled them off Facebook instead of YouTube or Photobucket like I usually do, so we'll see! If they don't work, let me know and I'll try to fix it. :-) |
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Hello out there (any readers I might have left...) Just a quick note before bed. I started to update the other day but didn't really have much of anything to say, so I didn't. For some reason, the blogging habit seems to have left me! Well, enough about school. Our church is getting ready for the Easter Musical, and the praise dance team has been practicing like CRAZY. Actually today was the first day we HAVEN'T practiced in almost a week. I (and a couple of my friends) am in both the choir and the dance team, and both groups have had a challenging time with this musical. There are some hard songs. But, thankfully, it's coming together - I think - and I'm looking forward to it. I'll try to post some pictures and videos after it's over. If you would, please pray for us that God will use the message of the musical to touch people's lives and hearts. Our church, our community, and our nation are in REAL need of awakening, in REAL need of God's help. There are several times in the Bible where God used praise and music as weapons to win the battle for His people. Praise is powerful!! Okay, I'm tired and can feel myself starting to ramble. haha. My dad just beat me at a game of Stratego (only my 3rd time ever to play it, and his first time in 30ish years!) Now I'm going to bed..... but I'm kinda hungry so I might go rummaging for a snack first. :-) Wake up, world; His love is alive |
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Hello again! Are you all as ready for spring as I am?! We had a few days of warm, sunny weather here last week, but then it turned cool and rainy again. Hopefully, if the weatherman is right, the sun will be back out tomorrow! Our choir and praise dance team have been busy getting ready for the upcoming Easter musical. Actually, it's coming up very quickly and there's still a lot to be done, especially for the dance team!! Our group leader is sick and is also having trouble with her knee.. so if you would please say a prayer that God will help us "get it all together" in time, that would be much appreciated! :-) All right, I guess that's it for now. I'm gonna go leave a couple of comments and then help with supper! Have a great week, I'm letting go of the life I planned |
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Hey, can you believe I'm posting again so soon?! haha. Let me just say that it was different this year... but I still enjoyed it. There was a different pastor this time and I was not as spiritually "blessed" or challenged as I was last year. But, the pastor did have some good points that I am still thinking on. :-) Might do a post on one of those a little later, we'll see. Anyway, I enjoyed the weekend overall. We played some fun games, and made the traditional camp Hobo Stew -- normally delicious but the guys on my team totally messed it up this time!! It was gross!! haha. God bless and have a wonderful day! "And do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." Romans 12:2 |
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Hey Guys! Anyway... my sisters and I have been sick this week with colds. Thought mine might be turning into the flu yesterday, but I'm feeling mostly better today, so I'm def. thankful for that! I'm hoping and praying to be completely better because I'm supposed to be going somewhere this weekend! Last week, we had some sad news. We found out that my good friend in Africa's little girl died from (what they think was) malaria. She was a little over a year old. That was really sad and hard for me for different reasons. I might write a little more about that another time, but please be praying for my friend (the mom). I haven't heard from her yet since it happened, but I know she has to be heartbroken. She has been through a lot in the past couple of years; I can't imagine what she's going through now, losing her daughter. Well, let's see, other than that... I've mostly been studying biology (one more week left!) and helping with the praise dance team getting ready for the Easter musical. The choir is singing a bunch of songs, and the praise dance team is doing two songs along with the choir. I'm looking forward to it! We're still working on the choreography of the first song, haven't even started on the second one yet, so there's still a lot of work left to be done. I hope you all have a great weekend and are staying well through the flu season! |
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Hello!! I'm still alive... I think!! :-) Boy, has college biology been rough this week! Not so much the content... actually my grades on this week's quizzes have been the best they've been so far in this class. But there was just so MUCH this week. Lots and lots of reading. But I just took the last quiz which means I'm done for the week, yay!! Except that I volunteered to be the one to submit this week's group project for my study group. That'll have to be done tomorrow, but it's quick to do. The project is done, I'll just have to post it for the teacher to grade. My mom was gone for over a week to stay with Briana while my grandma had to be out of town. The rest of us went over for the weekend, but were at home most of the time. I actually enjoyed making supper for Daddy and the little girls... cooking is usually one of those "I enjoy it if I'm in the mood" things for me. :-) BUT I didn't have to do it every night. Daddy cooked once or twice and we ate out a couple of times. But I learned a few things: 1) It is rewarding when you work hard on a meal and people really enjoy it. 2) It is frustrating when you work hard on a meal and someone complains about it. 3) I enjoy trying new recipes (which I already knew) and experimenting by changing the recipes up a little! Here's one new recipe I tried this week that everyone liked: Anyway, moving on from food... Oh, I said in my last entry that I was going to volunteer somewhere but I didn't say where. :-) I went and worked at a Compassion International table at a local youth conference. It didn't get a whole lot of response because of it being a youth conference, and not many teenagers can afford to sponsor a child. But one thing that was neat -- a group of 4 friends, teenage girls, came up and wanted to sponsor a child. They were going in together on it, $8 per person per month (sponsorship is $32 a month). I thought, that's a neat idea! That's a very realistic amount for them to be able to pay each month. And they were really excited about it. They chose a 4 or 5 year old little girl from Africa named Witness. (what a cool name!!) Okay, that's all for now. I'll try to write again soon. I hope you all are having a great weekend and have a wonderful week ahead! God bless! I shall remember the deeds of the Lord; |
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Hey y'all. :-) I hope everyone is enjoying January 09. We got some snow this past week -- the first and perhaps only one of the year! We got about 2-3 inches here at our house. Had fun sledding, and the little girls built a snow"girl" in the front yard. College has started back up again (did I say that already?) I'm taking biology... Definitely not one of my favorite classes, but there are some interesting things to learn. Studying about all the complicated, microscopic details of cells and molecules can be confusing, but really is a great reminder of what an awesome, perfect, creative Creator we have!! A song line I really like says, "You alone keep the universe from crumbling into dust"... and that's so true! But wow, to think of all the complexity that keeps just one cell alive and working!! It's really pretty incredible. I haven't been sleeping well / getting enough sleep the past few days, so I'm really tired today. I'm scheduled to go volunteer somewhere (I'll tell ya where later :-) ) for a few hours later today, so I need an energy boost. :-) Have a good weekend and I'll talk to you all later.
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Well, we took SO many pictures during our Disney trip, I just decided to put some of my favorites in a slideshow instead of posting them all in a list on the blog. So, here goes:  
Would y'all please pray for my grandparents? Their golden retriever died last night... he was like 13 years old and they loved him a LOT. We're all going to miss him. Thanks. That's all for now! Have a good Sunday! Broken I run to You |
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... just in case you were wondering!! :-) College started back the day before we got home. I'm taking biology this term. So far it has been pretty easy, but of course, I'm still just in the first week. I wasn't sure (and still am not sure) if I'd like this class or not -- I liked human biology in high school, but I'm not into other kinds of science that much. So we'll see if it ends up being an enjoyable class or not! We are supposed to be assigned into groups to do assignments together, which is something I've never done before in these online classes, so I'm kind of looking forward to that. Briana left today to go back to my grandparents' house and her dance/drama classes. She was here on Christmas break for almost a month... I'm going to miss her a lot! We've all gotten used to her being here again, I think. Well, there's my short update for now. I hope you're all doing well, and will try to get back over here to post pictures and comment soon! "Put on the garment of praise |
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As I promised, here is the video from the song the praise dance group did in church this past Sunday. The song is "It Is Well" sung by Chris Rice. In the video, I'm on the left, with the first solo. In the middle is my friend Shannon, and then Connie, the group leader. Each person choreographed their own solo - with a little input from the others. :-) Happy New Year to everyone... I'll see you when I get back!! |
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I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I don't have time for much of an entry, but wanted to drop in and share a little bit, since I haven't updated in a while. Here is a photo of the "gingerbread" (actually cardboard and graham crackers) house we made: Are you all doing anything special for New Year's Eve/Day? PS: The praise dance team did a new song, "It Is Well" this past Sunday. I'll try to get a video up before I leave, if I can! My Savior loves, my Savior lives,
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Hello again! I hope you're all enjoying the season. The past week has been really busy for us! My family went to see my sister Briana in her performance of the Nutcracker. I got to attend two of her seven performances, and she did great. It was a bit different intepretation of the ballet than I've been in and seen in the past, but it was good. Here are a couple of pictures:
My grandparents went back home today, and Briana will be here for a few weeks for her Christmas break! It is good to have her back home again. I hope you all are having a wonderful week and enjoying time with family and friends! Celebrate Jesus and spread His love!! Season of love |
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Today is my sister Marissa's "Gotcha Day" -- a.k.a adoption day. It has been 11 years since we welcomed her into our family in Guatemala. Wow!! Hard to believe it has been that long! She is growing up fast into a beautiful young lady! I've been kinda slack on my blogging lately. Sorry about that. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is enjoying the beginning of the Christmas season! We got our tree last night and got the lights on, but no ornaments yet. Many of the other Christmas decorations have been put out around the house too. But back to Thanksgiving. Briana came home for a long weekend, which was nice, but my grandparents didn't get to come this year. We continued our Thanksgiving / fall tradition of leaf sleddding!!! Here are some pictures of the sledding and the food.
Well, that's all I have time for today! :-) I'll try to post again sooner this time and get back to commenting, too. Have a great week!! "If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, |
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Well, now that I've neglected both blogging and commenting for a week and a half, I guess it's time to update again. I've been refusing to listen to Christmas music or anything until after Thanksgiving, trying to enjoy each season and not rush the holiday.... but today I think I'm just in the Christmas spirit! haha. I found myself singing Amy Grant Christmas songs in the shower this afternoon, and just feeling excited about one of my favorite times of year. Hard to believe that after Thanksgiving, the Christmas season will be here, and it'll be less than a month until the 25th! What are you all doing for Thanksgiving? We'll be celebrating at home, and Briana will also be home for a few days. We usually spend the morning watching the Macy's parade, the afternoon cooking and hanging out together, and eat our big meal at supper-time. Just to update you... my summer plans MAY be changing. I'm really not quite sure what's in the plans right now, but knowing that God sees my past, present, AND future gives me a lot of peace!! :-) Have a great weekend and God bless!! Give thanks to the Lord |
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"But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. I spent some time reading and meditating on these verses yesterday, and this is what they mean to me. I think many of us probably don't realize what we're "getting ourselves into" when we accept Jesus. He isn't just added to our life to make it better -- He wants to CHANGE our whole life and to BE our life! He is God and He will not be mocked. He does not delight in lukewarm, half-hearted following. He asks for hot or cold, all or nothing (Rev. 3:15-16). "Take up your cross and follow Me." That's FULL commitment. Think about it -- when you first accepted Jesus and began following Him, did you realize how much He would change your life? Did you anticipate being where you are today? I can say that I didn't! I first accepted Christ at six years old, so I didn't really know or expect much at that point except I knew I needed to be saved. After recommitting my life to God in my early teens and beginning to take my faith much more seriously... I committed to live for Him, but I don't think that I understood still what that really meant. Let's run the race and fight the fight of faith! There is endless depth to the Christian life, and GOD is what it's all about. I'm convinced that life isn't worth living if it isn't lived for Him. |
