Then she asked the kids whats wrong with this picture? The whole time she was thinking they would say it's out of focus, or it's not a picture of us. However, unprompted Samuel said "Uncle Dick's in it." The whole church erupted in laughter, and Uncle Dick just raise his hands in agreement! Ashley just left well enough alone and said actually that is another sermon.
Thanks Samuel for making us laugh! Let's remember to stay focused on JESUS.....
I have been thinking and praying about this post for a while. I have some news that I want to share with my family and friends, and NO I have not met Mr. Right so go ahead and dismiss that thought. However, I do want to share how God has been working in my life. Many of you know that I have been a christian for a long while, but at various times in my life did not flesh it out everyday. I was one that strayed and quiet honestly lost focus on what was, and still is most important. Well, needless to say after this past year of trials and struggles I have self-evaluated my life in many areas. Yep, I looked at myself spiritually, emotionally, socially, financially, physically, and mentally. I gave myself an overall grade of "N" for needs improvement. (y'all that's not good) Basically I knew it was time for a change, but I wasn't sure what to do first. That's when Jesus stepped in and Praise Him for it because he knew what order things needed to happen and how this whole thing needed to be revealed to me. So, in December of 2005 my family started going back to church. Today I love church. I love to think of it as God's house and as a place of worship. When I started going back to church I knew the basics like John 3:16, Genesis 1:1, the Romans road scriptures, a few parables, and some of the healing Jesus performed. I had heard of the beatitudes and ten commandments, but didn't know much about them. So for me church meant growth, and I had a lot to learn. I'm happy to report that in a little over a year I have learned so much. I still have a lot to learn because God's Word is funny that way, the more you learn the more you realize you didn't know to begin with. I now think of church as a necessity like water or food. I feel like I need it in order to grow.
So, once I was growing and felt pretty good about things I began to hear the call to missions. Yes, me an unlikely candidate. Kind of like the woman at the well, or Rahab. I can remember distinctly lying in my bed one night saying out loud "Look God I'm not ready for this yet!" Then I proceeded to outline my list of reasons why I could not possibly go to Jamaica. Well, to make a long story short every reason I listed that I couldn't go was turned into a reason I should buy a plane ticket. It was one of those times me and my Jesus had to wrestle it out. He won of course, sometime in March of 06. I began to pray like never before and went through a program to help me share my faith called Share Jesus Without Fear. Spartanburg got a taste of what I had learned. I even practiced it on a few saved people, just for good measure. Again church was growth and I was already taking Spartanburg by storm, so on May 27th I got on a plane to leave the country for the first time in my life to go share Jesus with the lost. Praise Him is all I can say. If you are still reading can you see the transformation taking place in my life? I hope so because that was the intent of this post. There is more to come, but for now check out http://www.therackroom.blogspot.com/ for a sneak peek of my Jamaica journal and how the Lord touched and changed me. The rest of the story is to be continued......
~Ashley
As I said before it has been a while since our last post so naturally I have lots of catching up to do with everyone. First of all for those of you who do not know, it is true that I do wear hats to church on Sunday. I guess it's a Jamaica thing that I just can't kick. Well, one Sunday not to long ago Faith had lots of questions about why I'm the only one that wears hats to church. So, I was glad to let her wear my hat in church too! It fits her to a tee. Look out Travis and Alyssa I think we have a future fashion queen in the family! Next, We had Revival this past week at church. Rev. Johnny McDaniel preached the services. All I can say is WOW! The Holy Spirit really moved and touched many lives. We had good attendance all week and there were special themes each night. Sunday Eric came up to lead the music and he brought Steven with him. He has grown so much since back over the summer when I saw him last. Sunday was children's night and we had funnel cakes and games for them. It looks like a good time was had by all! 
Monday was family night, Tuesday was senior night, and Wednesday was Sunday School night. It was a great week of fellowship and prayer! Now on to the pumpkins. Friday Mema, Mama, and I helped out at Cindy's Fall Festival. She had a great turn out from her neighborhood and clients. I guess the whole thing got me in the fall spirit because I carved my very own pumpkin today! There has been some discussion about how much the two of us favor one another. I'll let you decide?
More to come later on....
Ashley
