We are T minus one week to launch

My title to this blog comes because one of my dear friends is at space camp teacher training this week in Alabama and I'm slightly jealous that he gets to go to SPACE CAMP! The other reason for the title is that I am getting on a plane a week from today. ONE WEEK! This is the plane that is taking me into the rest of my life. I try to water it down so that it's not as big of a deal. "Oh I'm just moving to Kenya for a year." But no matter how much I just want to pretend it's just like going to work everyday to teach, the truth is that this is a brand new door on the path down which God has been leading me. My whole life, the circumstances that I've been through, the choices and mistakes I've made, truths God has shown me, everything has brought me straight to this door. Now, there have been several doors along the way and there are several more to be discovered, but I'm currently standing at this one. Bear with me as I continue with this door metaphor some more (I like rhyming words...).
For a few years now, I have been struggling to communicate what Faith means to me. It may be because some think I'm impulsive or careless, so they automatically assume that when I am not worried about things it HAS to be because I'm just not thinking of the consequences. I'm using this door as the illustration for Faith and how I view it. We all come to these doors in our lives, and since we can't see what's behind it (it's a wooden door, not one of those fancy glass doors), we don't want to open it. We like the way our life looks on this side of the door. We have it all figured out over here. There is Social Security, our family, Tenure, the perfect job, retirement plans, friends, relationships, and all of these beautiful things that we can SEE…that we can TOUCH… that MAKE so much SENSE… that OTHER PEOPLE ARE DOING AROUND US…  But God does not call us to be stagnant. In Revelation chapter 3, He criticizes the church in Laodicea for being stagnant! He doesn't want us to sit down where we are. He wants us to show our Faith in Him by stepping through those doors along the way without knowing exactly what's behind them. Paul even wrote in 2 Corinthians that "Three times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ can work through me.That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong." Jesus himself says in Matthew chapter 6 "So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?' These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all see, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." This is what I should have quoted when my mom told me to pick out my clothes for the next day before I went to bed. ;) But in all seriousness, we are destroying what the term "Christian" means when we are constantly in control of all of our plans! What separated the first churches from the non-Christians was that THEIR FAITH WAS EVIDENT! People saw them relying on the power of Christ instead of their own strength. They were considered crazy! I can just hear it now, "But, Saul, er, um, Paul, whatever they call you now, why are you not worried about where you are going? Aren't you scared that something bad is going to happen to you? How are you going to make your money? Where are you going to live? Do you have a mailing address? Do you have an IRA in place?" Understand this, I am not by any means telling you that any of these are BAD THINGS. These are wonderful! God doesn't want us to be careless with the responsibilities He's given us and He certainly doesn't want us to be ignorant. BUT HE WANTS US TO SEEK HIS KINGDOM FIRST. Tomorrow will take care of itself. God will work it out. He's in control. (By the way, I'm reiterating this for myself) We do not need to be so worried about the "what ifs" that we miss the opportunity to share the love of Christ and what he did for the world with everyone we know. Turn the door knob and step BOLDLY into the unknown, not out of recklessness, but out of the POWER OF CHRIST and knowing that HE WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU!

People who are reading this blog, I want you to understand that everything happens for a reason. God is at work in your life, whether or not you even believe in Him. He brought you all to this page for various reasons, but some of you may not understand what I'm even talking about because you've never encountered the One True God. You don't know what that freedom and security feels like. First, God loves you. It's a love that we have a hard time understanding because it's perfect and we are not. There is a Heaven and He is preparing a place for us, but we won't be able to dwell there with Him unless the sin in our life is recognized, repented from, and completely forgiven. THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO TO FIX THIS! God has done it all! He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, to be a sacrifice in our place and the craziest thing of it all is that we need only to BELIEVE this in order to dwell with Him for eternity. It's one of the easiest and hardest things because it only takes this one step of believing that we are sinners and that Jesus Christ's power as our sacrifice has covered our sins, but we refuse to believe this because it doesn't make sense in our human minds. It requires this thing called Faith. God sees where you are. He sees that you are hurting, that you are searching, that you are looking for something to fill this void in your life, and He wants you to simply believe in His power and the power to forgive and heal all of those things! He longs to build a relationship with you! The time is now to repent and embrace Christ as your comfort and your strength! When you turn your life over to Him and believe that He is who He is, then comes the freedom. Since we understand that God is in control and that He is perfect and we are not, we can rely on Him to take care of us! It's beautiful, ladies and gentlemen.

As I step out on Faith next week to start this incredible journey, I don't know what it will look like. I don't know what is going to happen. I don't know if the area will be safe. I don't know if I will be on the mission field for the rest of my life. I don't know what God's vision is for my life. What I do know is that I have been adopted into His family of Believers. I am His child. I am HIS. No matter what happens, no matter what is behind the door, no matter what, I am forever His. So I will listen to Him and I will read His love letter to me in scripture and I will follow as I feel He is leading.

On Thursday, a small group from my church, probably just two of us, will be traveling to Romania to work with Gheorghe and Mia Cormos and help them with their church camp. PLEASE PRAY for this. We have had several issues with this trip and I know it is because Satan is trying to prevent us from doing the Lord's work, so PLEASE pray that this trip will provide assistance to the Cormoses in Romania and that God is glorified through this whole trip.

On July 9 I will be flying out of Romania to Kenya and I will meet the second 516Missions team in Mombasa to begin working with James and Kenya Taylor. PLEASE pray for safety and for the mission work the team will be doing. I know God hears the prayers of those who love Him.

After the team leaves, I will begin school with the kids and I am so excited to be able to help the Taylors and do all sorts of fun stuff with their children! If you have any homeschooling advice, I will gladly welcome it, just email me at ashleyjteacher@gmail.com.

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June Report

I am so thankful for all of the people that I've met, all of the places I've visited, and all of the support people have given me both prayerfully and financially. On June 1, I got the opportunity to speak at Eastside Missionary Baptist Church in Minden, Louisiana. Their church family was so welcoming and poured their love out on me. I got to spend the afternoon with the pastor's, Brother Richard Methvin, family then I drove up to Magnolia, Arkansas to speak to the congregation at Calvary Baptist Church. They, too, were wonderful and took the time out to pray over me as I venture to follow God's call. I was able to spend a little time with some of the church members and their pastor's, Brother Micah Carter, family that evening. I want to thank both of these churches for allowing me to come and spend time with your church family.

On Wednesday, June 4, I was able to venture up to Monticello, Arkansas, to visit with Pauline Baptist Church. This is the Taylors' sending church, and I was so glad that I was able to share how I will be working with their missionaries.

On Thursday, all of the students from Bossier Parish that traveled to Destination Imagination Global Finals were recognized at the school board meeting. I am so proud of my kiddos for presenting their solutions at Global Finals and for doing an outstanding job!

On Friday, June 6, I left with my parents to travel to Destin for a last minute family getaway/my Dad's Associational Meeting for the Concrete and Aggregates Association of Louisiana. I was able to sit on the beach and just take a short break while spending some quality time with my parents before I head out. I also got to go deep sea fishing on my birthday!!! Wooohoo 27! We got back on Thursday night, June 12 and I immediately went over to a fellow church member's house to get the T-shirts ready that we sold for our mission trip to Romania. We organized them and got them ready to pass out and sell extras.

On Friday, June 13 I was able to spend some time with my fellow teachers that I will miss terribly. I still can't really comprehend that I will not get to see them everyday. That night, my family and a few friends came over to hang out and celebrate my birthday. We had a fun time.

Saturday morning, we were able to set up a little area at a craft fair at Love Chapel Methodist Church to sell some of our mission trip T-shirts. I also want to give a shout-out to Love Chapel for sending in a donation toward my mission goal! I appreciate your love that you've shown me! :) That afternoon I drove to Monroe to spend time with my extended family. We have a very large, close, loving family, and I am so glad that I got to spend some time with them before I leave. They showered me with cards, love, and gifts, and I cannot express how blessed I am to have such an amazing family.

Sunday morning I woke up extremely early (4:00 to be exact) and drove up to Flatwoods Missionary Baptist Church in Mountain View, Arkansas to thank them so much for the financial donation that they sent. God is so good because He knew I needed traveling buddies to ride with to the National American Baptist Association Messenger Meeting and He provided me with several traveling buddies from Flatwoods. Their pastor, Brother Joe Murrell, his wife and some others from their church were also planning on making the trip to the ABA meeting, so we joined forces and headed out that afternoon to drive to Grand Rapids, Michigan for the Annual ABA Meeting. I am so thankful for this group of people that I've been able to get to know. We have had a great time and God sent them to me in my time of need. So for the last few days, I have been here at the ABA meeting getting to know so many wonderful people! This was the perfect way to get focused and pumped up for the mission field! Praise God for His wonderful Grace and Mercy. I cannot believe He's chosen ME to go to Kenya and help the Taylor family. It's truly an honor to be able to serve a risen Savior who gave His life for mine. Please pray for us as we head back south. My car had a bit of trouble, but God is greater than car trouble and I know He will protect and provide.

I will be going to speak at the Central Louisiana Ladies Auxiliary Meeting on Saturday afternoon. Please pray for this meeting as I will be very spent from the two-day journey from Michigan, but I will also be so excited to get to share what God is doing with these wonderful ladies!

I am so excited to be able to spend Sunday services with my church family at Greenacres Missionary Baptist Church this weekend. As this week winds down and the packing becomes overwhelming, I covet your prayers. This is such a beautiful journey and I don't want to lose sight that it's about God and His Kingdom.

Thank you so much for your love and support!
In Christ,
Ashley