Thanking Him

I ran by this devotional from Jesus Today. It was exactly what I needed to hear today!

First attempt at Chalkboard art...lots of room for improvement :)

Friday Favorites

1. My husband is awesome! He has been a huge blessing to me this week. I've had a rough week to say the least. He has been supportive, encouraging, and doing everything!! So thankful to do life with him!

2. One Thousand Gifts - I just got to 100. What a great reminder to look at our day and focus on the gifts God gives us!

3. Me, Myself and Lies - The ladies and I have been doing this study. We just finished. What an eye-opener to hearing the things that I have been telling myself. It's amazing...

4. I Desire Jesus - In love with this song! 

5. Sun Tea - I've been making sun tea everyday! Here is my favorite :) 

6. Motto rides - After my run, Claudy asked if I wanted to go on a motto ride. Love those and him :) The motto died a little ways down the road, we had to push it home :) Good memories :) 

Have a great weekend!

This is the Day

Kids at Maxo’s School Singing this is the day!!

Yesterday, was a rough day for me. I struggled. I really didn’t want to be here. There was nothing in particular to make me feel this way. I wasn’t missing a holiday or a family event. I just did not want to be here. I don’t have many days like that, but when I do, it’s a good thing it’s not easy to hop on the plane and leave. I know it is during these days that the Lord is stretching me, showing me my dependency of Him, and wanting me to grow closer to Him. This morning, I was reminded that every day is His. Everyday I need to walk in His path and allow Him to carry me through.

The Unheeded Secret

My place of solitude each morning.

I had forgotten my small devotional, "My Utmost For His Highest," in my house in Florida. When I was home I grabbed it. I had forgotten how much wisdom was packed into each small reading. The last week as been focused on the journey of a missionary and so many things that he has written about has really encouraged me. Today's entry however, put into exact words what I have been struggling with over the last month in Haiti. It reads.

"It's entire strength lies in the fact that here you are immersed in the truths of God to soak in them before Him. You have no idea of where or how God is going to engineer your future circumstances, and no knowledge of what stress and strain is going to be placed on you either at home or abroad. And if you waste your time in over activity  instead of being immersed in the great fundamental truths of God's redemption, then you will snap when the stress and strain do come. But if this time of soaking before God is being spent in getting rooted and grounded in Him, which may appear to be impractical, then you will remain true to Him whatever happens." 
You can read the rest here... 


Before I left for Haiti, I had this pretty picture in my mind, that when I would come, I would have all the time in the world to sit and pray and soak up in God's word. While I don't have the same distractions here as I did in the United States, there are still distractions. I soon began doing, doing, doing and was trying to keep it all together, on my own strength. Then....I snapped....the stress was too much and I couldn't do it all. (I'm sure God was thinking, "Ashlee, when are you going to learn this lesson that I keep trying to teach you.") Last week I was able to have a great day alone in His word. It helped me regain my focus and to get rooted in Him. Sometimes, I become so focused on the tasks ahead, that I forget about the reason I am even here....I am here to share God's glory and his redemption.

God's Grace

Deuteronomy 4:32 - 40


" 32 “For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. 33 Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? 34 Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him. 36 Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them3 and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, 38 driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, 39 know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. 40 Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”


It's amazing how easily, I like the Israelite's, forget what God has brought me through. How, He has proved his faithfulness time and time again, when He didn't need to. When I was in the wilderness and was chasing the wind....He continued to pursue me. He still pursues me....He still gives me grace.