He Is

Father, let the world just fade away
Let me feel your presence in this place
Lord, I've never been so weary
How I need to know you're near me
Father, let the world just fade away

Till I'm on my knees
Till my heart can sing

He is
He was
He always will be

Even when it feels like there is no one holding me
Be still, my soul
He is

Father, let your Holy Spirit sing
Let it calm the storm inside of me
As I stand amazed
Lift my hands and say

[ Find more Lyrics on http://mp3lyrics.org/hk2h ]
He is
He was
He always will be

He lives
He loves
he's always with me

Even when it feels like there is no one holding me
Be still, my soul
Through every fear
And every doubt
And every tear I shed
Down every road
I'm not alone
No matter where I am

He is
He was
And He always will be

He lives
He loves
he's always with me
Even when it feels like there is no one holding me
Be still, my soul
Be still, and know
Be still, my soul
He is

When You Believe Lyrics

Many nights we've prayed
With no proof anyone could hear
In our hearts a hopeful song
We barely understood

Now we are not afraid
Although we know there's much to fear
We were moving mountains long
Before we knew we could


There can be miracles, when you believe
Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill
Who knows what miracles you can achieve
When you believe, somehow you will
You will when you believe


In this time of fear
When prayers so often prove(s) in vain
Hope seems like the summer birds
Too swiftly flown away

Yet now I'm standing here
My heart's so full I can't explain
Seeking faith and speaking words
I never thought I'd say

There can be miracles, when you believe
Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill
Who knows what miracles you can achieve
When you believe, somehow you will
You will when you believe


They don't (always happen) when you ask
(Oh)
And it's easy to give in to your fears
(Oh...Ohhhh)
But when you're blinded by your pain
Can't see your way straight throught the rain
(A small but )still resilient voice
Says (hope is very near)
(Ohhh)

There can be miracles
(Miracles)
When you believe
(Lord, when you believe)
Though hope is frail
(Though hope is frail)
It's hard to kill
(Hard to kill, Ohhh)
Who knows what miracles,you can achieve
When you believe, somehow you will(somehow,somehow, somehow)
somehow you will
You will when you believe

You will when you
You will when you believe
Just believe...in your heart
Just believe
You will when you believe~

Just Do It

This phrase has been over the past 5 years or more been a very hard concept for me to grasp. My mom has told me to do it, my husband has told me to do it, Nike tells us every time that we see the swoosh to "Just Do It"--but yet, I still can't. And, it's not like I haven't been trying! But, after 12 years of wanting and needing a child, and not having one...it gets kind of old listening to people tell you that. Especially when you just have this feeling that it's never going to happen...because everything in your body feels un-feminine.
I have PCOS--I am suppossed to be on Metformin. I have facial hair because of this, and I have to shave it everyday. There, I said it. Even completely healthy couples only have a 20% chance according to my gynecologist of conceiving.
My husband has never had a child, or gotten anyone pregnant--so I don't know if it's him too or not, and he doesn't have medical insurance.
It's $150 to get a check on his sperm.
I have tried to lose weight, but I can't here lately because I can't get out and exercise and every healthy eating that I've tried has not accomplished anything but me gaining weight.
I have felt all hope was lost until I read this scripture...

Mark 9:23........ "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.

That means EVERYTHING--even a girl with facial hair, that feels more like a man than a woman, can conceive a child. Women in the bible who were barren conceived, why can't I? And, that was before 'diagnosis(es)'. That was when the ONLY physician was the Lord God Almighty Himself!!

I have a loving husband, who wants to conceive...although he has an addiction that he is currently held on to--which is cigarettes...but even when he quit, we still weren't getting pregnant!

Anyways, I still am buying onesies every now and then when I see a cute one that our baby could wear--that I could picture it wearing!
I'm hoping to bear some beautiful redheads in God's timing...even some with dark hair like their daddy!

~Ashley

That's What Faith Can Do..

I have had this song running through my head for quite sometime now, so I thought that I would post it on my blog for you to enjoy the lyrics.

Everybody falls sometimes
Gotta find the strength to rise
From the ashes and make a new beginning
Anyone can feel the ache
You think it’s more than you can take
But you are stronger, stronger than you know (Thank you Lord!)
Don’t you give up now
The sun will soon be shining(with Faith it will be!)
You gotta face the clouds (which is now)
To find the silver lining
I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains--a child, a new job, moving to Decatur, a house.
Hope that doesn’t ever end (which I need to learn)
Even when the sky is falling (which is now)
And I’ve seen miracles just happen(Christian Curtis)
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new(Charles Edward Day)
That’s what faith can do
It doesn’t matter what you’ve heard
Impossible is not a word
It’s just a reason for someone not to try
Everybody’s scared to death
When they decide to take that step(to Decatur!)
Out on the water
It’ll be alright (thank you --confirmation!)
Life is so much more
Than what your eyes are seeing
You will find your way
If you keep believing
I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn’t ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I’ve seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That’s what faith can do
Overcome the odds
You don't have a chance (That’s what faith can do)
When the world says you can’t
It’ll tell you that you can! (When having a child)
I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn’t ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I’ve seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That’s what faith can do
That's what faith can do!
Even if you fall sometimes
You will have the strength to rise

Living in Egypt

Wow. For some reason as soon as I titled this, I felt a breath of fresh air, like I was not in Egypt anymore...like I was free, or getting real close to change, or being somewhere else. I liked that. WOW!
Anyways, I am going to be coming out of the pit soon. I can breathe it.
This scripture promise is what I am standing on.

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Exodus 23:20-33

See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I haved prepared. Pay attension to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion since my name is in him. If you listen carefully to what he says, and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies, and will appose those who appose you. My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivities, and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. Do not bow down before their Gods, or worship them, or follow their practices. You must demolish them, and break their sacred stones to pieces. Worship the Lord you God and His blessings will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land; I will give you a full life span. I will send my terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you, to dirve the Hivites, Canaanites, Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals to numerious for you. Little by little, I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land. I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of Phillistines, and from the desert to the river. I wil ahnd over to you the people who live in the land and you will drive them out before you. Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. Do not let them live in your land, or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.

End of the Rope.

Tonight. I will be in much prayer.
Please, if you want to, do that too.
I'm at the end. The end of my rope. The end of the line.
If I'm not careful, soon I will quit my job.
I can't stand it anymore. It's hell. This place is hell. These people.
I can't even come into work anymore without my God's name being erased on my own desk wall.
---------------------------------------
When will you pull me out Lord.
It's the pit again. When will you come through Lord? What else do I have to do?
I need your arm. I need your hand. Pull me out. Show through me.
Help me remain mild tempered. I know you went through more.
That's why your my savior.

Love,
your daughter
♥
Ashley Renee~ Day

Lessons from the Pit--Joy

The next few scriptures are what I'll need to be meditating on when now learning my next lesson=positivity and JOY, along with great confidence in who I am in Him!!
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1.The Lord has done great things for us! We are glad! Psalm 126:3
Now, this is the truth! The Lord has done great things for us and has made us glad. After we were forced to lose our home in Maroa that we loved, in peace and happiness with our furbabies, we have found two very affordable apartments and have been living peacefully in them. We have everything that we need, and I thank God for the lights, the power, the gas, the electricity, the love, spending time with Christian, our cars, our furniture.
2.But let all those who take refuge and put their trust in You rejoice; let them ever sing and shout for joy, because You make a covering over them and defend them; let those also who love Your name be joyful in You and be in high spirits. Psalm 5:11
We are always taking refuge in Him, and making sure that He is put first as our protector, we've left several ppl to him, and He has dealt with them appropriately.
We should rejoice in that fact, that's he's done that.
We should be always singing and shouting for joy in the fact that He is our defender! Our almighty!
We love the name of Jesus! I love shouting that name, it makes me feel so powerful! We should shout his name everyday and begin the day thanking him for the day he has given. We should be in high spirits, and not let negativity attack us without fighting it! Prayer, and stay steadfast in patience and not reacting to negativity.
3.Honor and majesty are [found] in His presence; strength and joy are [found] in His sanctuary. 1 Chronicles 16: 27
We have honor when we are found to be in His Holy Spirit and presence. When we go into the house of the Lord we find strength again, and that's the truth, every time I come out, I feel refreshed from a lonely, stressful week. Joy is found in the house of the Lord also, because after refreshment I am filled with happiness. So why can't we find this in our homes also? My husband brings me joy, but I won't be able to bring him joy until I can fill myself with the Joy of the Lord. And, if I want more strength which goes along with confidence, then I need to have more joy to have more strength!
4.Be happy [in your faith] and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually (always).
1 Thessalonians 5: 16
Alright, so I work in a call center. I work in customer service. I feel you all shuttering. But, if I am a child of God, and I am a light to the dark drab city of Taylorville...then why can't I still have a large beacon of light radiating from me?
My faith in God and what He was, and Is, and is to come...should make me rejoice, constantly, even if in my work...and make me happy that He is who HE is!
Glad-hearted continually (always)...how do I do that? I've always been the negative one, and the Ey'Ore. How do I stop? That right there, is what I need to pray about. I guess, because life's never been very fair to me, or @ least that's what I have portrayed. Portray bad things=get dealt bad things I guess.

When Me Lord?

I'm not trying to sound selfish Lord, and everyday I'm trying to enjoy life and find joy in it. But when me Lord?
Everyone around me is bounding and abounding in blessings and happiness. But, when me Lord? It's not enough. Everyone says all that I have should be enough. But, it's not. I do appreciate everything that you have given me Lord, but I cannot fill that hole. The one that yearns for it, and only YOU know what "it" is.
It doesn't have to be the perfect job, the perfect house, or the perfect "it." It, just needs to be enough.
A child, furbabies, a place that will let us have them, a job in the city we want to be in. The city where we were so happy.
That's all I want Lord. Joy. Happiness. That must be the next lesson that you are teaching me while I'm in this pit.
Because, Lord, there is no other place I want to be then back in the area we were in. I want to be out of this pit.

There's nothing here. I'm empty. Even with the love of my life, I'm empty.

Love,
ME

Exciting/Excrutiating...

Hello. Well, today, I woke up feeling touched by God, especially after finding out that mom has been praying for me.
After work, a different story, I swear, stress aggravates it. Am I the only one who doesn't constantly call in to work every-every-other day?
Who doesn't blue slip on a wim? Who doesn't go out for a smoke break every 5 seconds and just has to do it with a supervisor who can't stand me? Oh wait--no, I don't smoke. I struggle with not smoking, I did it for so long.
Anyway, enough with the excrutiating part.
Exciting! Not only was that certain supervisor "sick" today, but I just happened to need my resume printed out, so I did it @ work. (naughty, naughty, right?!).
They are hiring in the DECATUR (yea, yea yea) area for a church secretary which is exactally what I applied for earlier this year with our church and was told that I was the #1 choice if anything happened with or to who they picked. So, instead of sitting around waiting to fulfill my destiny and happiness, I decided to put in applications everywhere I can.
So, besides that job, which I found out is only part time, so I won't be able to take it unless it's at least 36 hours a week; I also found a position for a office front desk person for a busy dental office!!
I'm so excited! I hope that either one is the one for me and that they call. I was really hoping that Springfield Clinic calls me from their Decatur office, I've always wanted to work in a front desk check-in receptionist type position.

Anywhoo-now that I've eaten, I'm feeling a bit better. But, please, pray for me. Pray for them to find no more cyst, and no more arthritis!

Thank you God! It's done!

Ashley

"But what do we do with people? We forget the process. We're usually worrying about how to clean them up before they're even caught! We want people to stop smoking, stop doing drugs, stop wearing clothes we don't like, dye their hair back from purple to brown, take the metal out of their faces, and generally clean up their act before—or shortly after—they've had an encounter with Jesus. We want a clean tidy church, clean tidy disciples, and clean tidy friends. "

This is a great quote that I found from Melody Green's blog...she was the wife of the late Keith Green...he was a great charismatic Christian singer in the 70's.

I just found him today in doing some research on the CBN website.

Anyway, back to her blog. It's so true. I was just talking to a co-worker about this. She said, to me just yesterday..."Hey, Ashley, I'm going to bring a can of beer and come to your church sometime." You know what I said? "You go right ahead, ________, our pastor will let you come in with it, but he also might ask you to lay it on the altar." We both laughed. She's had some bad experiences in the past, going to churches and having believers look down upon her. So, she's bitter towards the church. Do I blame her? Certainly not! I grew up going to a Baptist Church (one of the many churches I attended) where it was the same in the Youth Group as it was in the schools.

I was made fun of, I was a redhead, I watched my youth group leaders kids and babysat for them, while they went out partying, and found beer in their fridge right after they got done telling us the dangers of such things!

I never turned away though, not until much, much, later.

What are we doing? In our churches? Loving only those with a smooth coat and appearence? Or loving ALL of those who enter! The ones who look bad, smell bad, make us feel bad...EVERYONE should be able to come to the throne!

Let GOD judge them...be their judge, let HIM be the one to ask them to lay down their sin...and until then...invite them to come!

:)

Clinton Lake Scare...

{Courtesy of Herald and Review}
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Blue-green algae in Clinton Lake source of concern
Posted: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 3:01 am

CLINTON - The mother of an Urbana girl sickened after swimming at Clinton Lake is urging people to use caution when going into the water at the DeWitt County reservoir.

Sandra Pierson said Monday she doesn't want people to panic, but she thinks they should be aware her 12-year-old daughter was in an Urbana hospital Friday through Sunday for apparent blue-green algae poisoning. Doctors told Pierson no test can confirm the diagnosis, but the fact her daughter had several symptoms of the condition and responded to treatment are strong signs for blue-green algae.

Blue-green algae are common in Central Illinois lakes and other bodies of water, but some produce chemicals that can have a toxic effect on humans, pets and livestock, said the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

"You don't want to start a panic or anything like that. However, there could be kids out there who are vomiting and being treated for a virus when in actuality they should be checked for this," Pierson said.

On Friday, DNR officials issued a precautionary warning after learning a dog died after drinking water at Clinton Lake on July 4. Boaters, swimmers and other lake users are being warned to avoid ingesting lake water and refrain from swimming in areas where stagnant water or algae blooms are present.

DNR spokeswoman Januari Smith was unaware of the sick girl until a reporter informed her on Monday.

The DNR is consulting with the Illinois Department of Public Health about the next step, Smith said. At this point, precautionary warning signs have been posted and water is being tested for potential blue-green algae blooms.

Officials hope to have test results by the end of the week, Smith said.

According to information from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, blue-green algae are a group of bacteria often referred to as "pond scum." It generally grows in lakes, ponds, and slow-moving streams when the water is warm and enriched with nutrients like phosphorus or nitrogen. In rare cases, the algae can produce toxins that can make people sick after contact with the skin, through inhaling, or by swallowing contaminated water. Symptoms include rashes, irritation to eyes, the nose and throat, headaches, fever, nausea, stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhea. Animals can die from exposure, the Wisconsin DNR information said.

Pierson said her daughter had a 103-degree fever, nausea, headaches and a recurring rash. The girl immediately vomited after swallowing water while playing July 3 at the Clinton Lake beach, her mother said.

The flu-like symptoms persisted over the next few days, but Pierson didn't connect the illness to the lake-water exposure until the girl's grandmother, Julie Collins, learned about the DNR algae warning Friday from Danny Williams who owns Green Acres Campground at the lake.

Coincidentally, Collins and Josh and Cassie McConkey, who owned the poodle that died, often stay at Green Acres.

After Pierson told doctors about the warning, her daughter was treated for blue-green algae by using fluids to flush her system, which includes drinking a cup of water every 15 minutes at home, said her mother.

srichardson@pantagraph.com

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It's funny, because my husband and I were commenting on how we'd probably not want to return to Clinton beach (even though years ago it was lovely)..because he found a bat skull, and the water wasn't a clear blue like normal, and the large amount of rocks, etc.
Well, now this scares me, we were just there swimming on the 7th.

Anywhoo--This is concerning, just wanted everyone know.

Love,
Ash

3 Years Married 7-7-10

To my husband

For some reason lately I've been more attracted to you.
Sensually. In a Christian, manly, prince of our home way.
Your lips, your kisses are soft, subtle, and so slow.
So passionate, like you still want me, and show me you still need me after all of these years.
4 years together...how can it get better and better everyday?
I thought by now, it would get old, ritualistic, and fade.
The colors are brighter, and more vibrant in our love...
YOU are the one that I want.
YOU are the one that I need.
and YOU are the only one I have desire for.
Precious hands held every night...
Kissing my wedding ring, while it's on my hand, my favorite move.

My angel, thank you God for sending him to me.
He has rescued me, saved me, made me a different person.
Happy.

Domino Sugar-Great American BakeSale

Hubby tries out one of Lucille's homemade rootbeer heart lollipops....mmmmm delicious! :-)

Hello All. One of the companies I work for--Domino Sugar (and sister companies C&H Sugar and Florida Crystals) does something special every year to benefit hungry children, so my co-workers and I put together one of our own. It's called the Great American Bake Sale. Hubby made "bake sale lemon bars", a new recipe I found, and they went quickly!

Go here to sign up with your clan or to learn more:http://gabs.strength.org/site/PageServer?pagename=GABS_homepage

Anywhoo...here are pictures from our Great American Bakesale @ my work. Once I learn how much we earned with the proceeds, I will let you know.

Please fight hunger with me...let me know if you or your church or organization participates... :-)

Love, Ash ♥